Many managers view leadership as an endless battle against employee inertia. However, the root of managerial disasters lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of motivation. In this article, I will share a proven classification of employees that will save years of stress for any CEO.
Motivation is not an external influence, but a person’s internal impulse to act. This impulse can be directed toward different objectives: some people are willing to spend months preparing to climb Mount Everest, spending thousands of dollars and risking their lives, while others only feel driven when scaling a company or taking care of their family.
It is critically important for a business owner to understand that if they build a team of people with low internal drive for work, a managerial catastrophe awaits them. A leader’s life in such circumstances turns into a daily living hell. I saw this firsthand with an alcohol distribution company.
It was a team of the most cynical people I have ever met. The managers talked only about numbers and bonuses, and discipline was maintained through harsh financial penalties. Everyone in the group was trying to tear each other apart. Operating within such a system is practically impossible.
To build an effective team where people see meaning in what they do, it is necessary to distinguish between three levels of motivation:
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Missionaries
These are people who do their work because they genuinely love it. For them, their occupation is the meaning of life. A missionary doesn’t just have to be a visionary of Steve Jobs’ caliber; it could also be a kindergarten teacher who clearly works with children not for the sake of the salary they are paid.
It is important to understand that missionaries still need money and fair compensation. However, their primary driver is the core idea and being part of a bigger game. I am convinced that those who deliver greater results should be paid more. Missionaries are the top performers, so cutting costs on them is a strategic mistake.
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Enthusiasts
Excellent professionals. Their drive is to be the best in their field, to achieve self-realization in their industry, and to submit reports on time out of professional pride. The main difference from missionaries is that an enthusiast is not ready to sacrifice their own interests for the interests of the group. In a football team, this is the star player who plays for their own image, while the missionary cares about the morale of the entire team.
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Materialists
People for whom work is merely a way to meet financial needs. They do not care about the company’s values or its product. Managing materialists is a matter of constant calculations and fine-tuning. You will have to map out highly complex compensation systems where every single step left or right must be accounted for. Often, an abundance of materialists in a company is not a hiring mistake, but the result of an inept leader who never talks about purpose and is solely fixated on revenue and targets.
Global business history holds an example where such an approach was taken to the extreme and led to a catastrophe. This is the case of Enron Corporation and its infamous “Rank and Yank” system.
Enron operated a performance review committee. Every six months, employees were evaluated on a five-point scale. Those who fell into the bottom 15% (Category 5) had six months to improve, but in practice, they were simply pushed out or fired.
For the company, all of this resulted in:
- An atmosphere of paranoia. People stopped collaborating. Why help a colleague if their success could land you on the chopping block of the bottom 15%?
- An artificial selection of cynics. The system rewarded those who mastered the art of “seeming rather than being.” Employees engaged in political games and chased short-term numbers, completely ignoring ethics and long-term strategy.
- The destruction of enthusiasm. The environment turned the company into a place where only the most aggressive materialists survived.
Ultimately, the cult of results at all costs led to massive fraud and the bankruptcy of the giant. This is a textbook example of what happens when there is no room left for missionaries in a company, and management relies exclusively on fear and bonuses.
One Question to Determine Motivation Levels
You don’t need sophisticated tools to instantly identify someone’s motivation level. When you have a candidate with the right hard skills in front of you, ask them one simple question:
“Previously, you worked at Company X in Position Y. Why exactly did you choose that job and that position?”
Then, just listen. The person will reveal their own motive:
- “I wanted to be part of a team creating a unique gadget”—Missionary.
- “I needed the experience; I wanted to level up as a professional”—Enthusiast.
- “The store was close to my house, and the pay was decent”—Materialist.
Trust what you hear. People rarely lie when answering this question; it’s just that we aren’t always ready to accept their truth.
Can Motivation Levels Be Changed?
Psychologists often say no. However, management practice proves otherwise. Motivation is a living substance. It can drop due to organizational chaos, a lack of recognition for achievements, or because the leader’s goals seem unattainable.
But it can also grow. The responsibility of a business owner and CEO is to move people up the motivation scale. This is achieved by promoting the mission, vision, and strategy. When I first went out to my factory floor workers and started talking about our mission, 80% looked at me like I was crazy, while the remaining 20% wondered if they were going to stop getting paid.
But if you keep communicating the core purpose sincerely and consistently, people begin to buy in. Their eyes light up, materialists level up to enthusiasts, and enthusiasts become missionaries.
Three Steps for a Leader
If you want to boost team efficiency and make your own life easier, do three things:
- Filter your hiring: Try not to hire hardcore materialists—they are a heavy burden.
- Formulate the core purpose: Define the company’s mission and vision, and communicate them to everyone.
- Link results to the mission: When rewarding an employee for a success, emphasize how their achievement brings the company closer to its grand goal.
When you give people answers to the questions “Where are we going?” and “Why are we doing this?”, the number of missionaries in your company begins to grow. And that is the ultimate key to a sustainable business.
