In my emergent theory of professional motivation, there’s a scale everybody falls somewhere on, based on what gets them out of bed and into the grind each day. It ranges from paycheck (“Gotta pay the light bill so they’ll stop calling me”) to legacy (“Time’s running out; how will I be remembered?”)
Now’s not the time to lay the whole thing out, because there’s one crucial bit I’m thinking hard about lately.
Each one of those stages comes with its own language, and when leaders communicate as if everone is at the same stage as them, trouble ensues.
For example, if I’ve got my back to the wall financially and I’m desperate for a raise, and some boss comes hard at me about the organization’s global mission, it’ll fall on deaf ears because my job security and income growth aren’t meeting my needs and I’m as likely to switch careers entirely as I am to improve the job I’ve got
If I then turn around and talk to someone hired yesterday about their career growth when they haven’t thought further ahead than the next check, I can expect a dazed stare and rightfully so.
This doesn’t mean these gaps in focus can’t be bridged; it’s not even hard. But it requires awareness and intention, both of which are possible if a leader isn’t curious about the people they lead.
