Download Episode Here – right click link and select “Save Link As…”
In this episode Joel and Antonia talk about the 6 styles of motivation and how to use them to relate better to others and change your life.
In this podcast you’ll find:
What gets us going? What has us reaching out for success?
6 Sermons Model
Simple way to recognize the different ways people are motivated.
3 major categories:
- Power
- Affiliation
- Achievement
Each category has two subcategories
- Away From – Fear pushes us away from these categories
- Toward – Desire pushes us toward them
Power Away From:
- Fear of being under the power of someone else.
- Desire to break authority structures
- Constant need to be outside the system. The rebel.
- An inability to be in a position of leadership
- Can be motivated by autonomy. Solo projects. Hate micromanaging.
- Can motivate self by finding the flaws in the system. Documentarians.
Power Toward:
- Love being in the chain of command.
- Respect authority and hierarchy.
- Seek out positions of authority and seek out people in authority.
- Can be motivated by gaining greater responsibility over others.
- Can motivate self with the prospect of promotion.
Affiliation Away From:
- Fear they will be isolated from the tribe through public censure or embarrassment.
- Prefer staying under the radar. Just do the job and don’t rock the boat.
- Small group of friends to avoid awkwardness.
- Can be motivated by frequent positive feedback.
- Can motivate self by asking people for feedback. Avoid isolation.
Affiliation Toward:
- Desire to be tied into the social fabric.
- Gain status and stand out in order to gain admiration. Wag the Dog movie.
- Typically surrounded by a large social tribe.
- Can be motivated by public approval, like a surprise party or Roast which acknowledges their accomplishments.
- Can motivate self by creating a tribe of people who will give honest feedback.
Achievement Away From:
- Profound fear of attempting something only to fail.
- May stick with the tried and true rather than risk failure.
- Working harder than they need to in order to assure success.
- Perfectionist tendencies, which can be a counter motivator.
Achievement Toward:
- Will work incredibly hard in order to reach the end goal and feel the pride that comes with achievement.
- Ambitious.
- Motivated by having access to the best tools for the job.
Varying degrees of healthy and unhealthy expressions in each of these categories.
Whichever style you identify with find the optimal level of health for each type.
Toward/Away From – basic carrot and stick concept.
Toward motivated appears to be a healthier expression because Away From is embedded in fear.
Living with fear does not serve us.
Toward is an expression of desire and hunger. Desire to reach out for something better.
Away From is more rooted in dissatisfaction and fear. May relate to a mentality of scarcity.
A lot of our fears seem more rooted in ancient programming. Programming that is no longer valid.
Another model of motivation:
-
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink – newest most advanced info in psychology re: motivation.
- Trifecta of motivation. Healthiest expressions.
- Autonomy = Power
- Mastery = Achievement
- Purpose = Affiliation
- Trifecta of motivation. Healthiest expressions.
Referenced in this podcast:
To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below:
Subscribe with iTunes
Non iTunes Link
Download The Android App
Subscribe on Soundcloud
Subscribe with Stitcher
If you like the podcast and want to help us out in return, please leave an honest rating and review on iTunes by clicking here. It will help the show and its ranking in iTunes immensely! We would be eternally grateful!
Want to learn more?
Discover Your Personal Genius
We want to hear from you. Leave your comments below…
Share:
Podcast - Episode 0114 - Coping With Emotional Triggers
Podcast - Episode 0116 - Radical Acceptance
35 comments
This is so cool! I like the comparison to love languages. I identify with two of these categories: Power Away From and Achievement Toward. I’m an INTJ, though, so I’m not sure how much of the Power Away From is tied up into my natural tendencies.
I’m actually don’t take issue with the theory that Towards behaviors are healthier than Away ones. To me, it seems like a logical extension to say that fear-motivated behaviors (especially ones that aren’t founded in real fears) could be negative. As someone who identified with Power Away, I found the scarcity framing to be a helpful way of coping with those fears. Also, I thought referencing vestigial fears from the primitive brain was a great, non-judgmental way of viewing the fear that motivates Away types.
I think I will try to be more of a Toward type when it comes to Power. It is easier to view Towards behaviors as driven by status and recognition, and to view Towards people as self-focused and needy for the approval of others, but I think that’s a fearful reaction that allows us to cop out of self-growth. The way I’m choosing to view Towards behaviors is to be connection-driven. I think at the root of status or recognition is a desire to be a part of something. As an INTJ, I struggle with my natural inclination to remain disconnected. As someone on an extreme, I see wanting to be liked or wanting the positive feedback of others to be a healthy sign of human connection. Personally, I think I could use more of that.
This is so great guys – I think I’m realizing that my isolation from hierarchies happens when fear creeps in about being controlled. Rather than being fearful, I think I need to communicate my desire to be mostly autonomous – and then I think my achievement toward motivator can kick in more effectively… and maybe I can get promoted more! :D Just some initial thoughts, but I love that you point out that fear is not a good motivator – I had the same thoughts while you were talking about the ‘away from’ motivators. But at times it does seem healthy ‘away from’ motivators are possible.
I’m not so sure being Away From is inherently the negative trait… I think it’s a matter of degree for each of these styles on a scale of healthy to unhealthy. It’s important to examine what’s underneath but like they said, it will also be affected by your personality.
I’m an INTJ, 2/3 Power Away from and 1/3 Achievement Toward.
It’s interesting to me because I can relate so, so much to the examples they gave on the episode. My job is half graphic design and half technical operations. So in terms of finding what’s wrong in a system or what people are blind to is what I have found I enjoy doing at work. Also because they’re my projects, my proposals and nobody else thought of them :)
It’s not really in my job description but through the years I’ve gained the management’s trust to be able to pick projects I’m interested in, like finding what’s broken and inconsistent and plan out the solution, create new procedures in the organization, etc. About solo projects, I have been in a corporate environment for years and I’d like to say I’ve adapted and accepted the overrated and highly-praised team work, and I’m not problematic when in it because I understand how the hierarchy sees it (“you gotta be a team player”… said the extroverted boss), but I do prefer working on my own; and then coming to the group with the data/plan. Luckily my ISFP boss understands this, which surprisingly to me, (I think) our personalities are not supposed to be comparible but somehow we get along very well.
Anybody know more about this?
About getting “tools”… Or"toys"… How I call them :) like a monitor, or a tablet, or software that maybe it’s not exactly necessary per my job description but I want to learn it for future reference, and they grant it… I’m happy. And motivated. For a few more months. It’s a boost. It’s just ironic to me how stereotypical I am :) but glad there has to be more people like me out there. Even if it feels like I’m the only one in my building.
Thanks for the comment, Frances! So, I’m interested. Are you going to attempt to become more of a Toward Power type of person? Or do you feel content with the way you are?
I ask because I am an Affiliation Away From person and I’m not sure if I want to become an Affiliation Toward person…even if that is the best plan of action.
Oh my god! This has been a eureka moment. Recently I’ve been struggling with being given the title of ‘a leader’. I’ve been given leadership responsibilities (not management) and I’ve had some challenges in feeling comfortable with them and understanding why they’ve been coming to me. My mentor pointed out that others obviously think of me as a leader and then asked me why I was so reluctant to accept that title. It’s because I’m very much an ‘away from power’ type of person. Thank you for helping me clarify that!