What Drives You? What Drains You?

Exploring and assessing your motivations in depth.

We have already discussed motivation — what motivates an individual to become a leader and what motivates leader development. We have also discussed the leader’s role in motivating followers. But let’s look more deeply at a leader’s personal motivation.

A new assessment instrument, called the DRIV, not only looks at what motivates and energizes a leader (labeled “drivers”), but also looks at those things that are more taxing on the individual (called “drainers”). For example, individuals might be energized by creating things, being competitive, or serving others. These are drivers. For other individuals these same things may be de-motivating — “sucking the life out of them,” as some might say.

Let me share my own motivational DRIV profile. I am labeled a “builder.” My drivers include having impact, being productive, and sharing insights/wisdom with others. My drainers are complying with existing rules and taking too long to deliberate in making decisions (i.e., over-analyzing situations). What this means is that my drivers energize me, but my drainers are taxing. It’s not that I don’t follow the rules and comply with details, but I’m not motivated when I do them. So, the drivers and drainers are not related to what you are good at, but what sorts of activities and goals you are motivated to achieve.

For Development: We spend a lot of time focusing on those things that motivate us, but we spend less time trying to understand those things related to our jobs that drain our motivation. Getting insights such as these, and reflecting on both your drivers and drainers can help you increase self-awareness and help you decide the activities you would like to spend more (and less) time on.