Leadership and Motivation: The Fifty-Fifty Rule and the Eight Key Principles of Motivating Others
John Adair transformed our understanding of how leadership works with his pioneering book Not Bosses But Leaders. Here he explores the nature of motivation, individual needs and how they relate to the key tasks facing leaders and managers. Positive motivation, he argues, can create, maintain and improve the performance of any team. In Leadership and Motivation John Adair also puts forward his own theory of motivation – the fifty-fifty rule – and then i… More >>
Leadership and Motivation: The Fifty-Fifty Rule and the Eight Key Principles of Motivating Others
Posted in Motivational | 
Tags: Eight, FiftyFifty, Leadership, Motivating, Motivation, Others, Principles, Rule
John Adair’s pioneering NOT BOSSES BUT LEADERS helped change the way leadership roles are viewed in business: in LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION: THE FIFTY-FIFTY RULE AND THE EIGHT KEY PRINCIPLES OFM OTIVATING OTHERS he extends his analysis to review the foundations of leadership ability and its role in both business and personal life. Chapters tell how to create framework for such motivation by selecting the right people and creating the atmosphere that enables them to shine. From moral issues to key points in ‘action centered’ leadership, business readers receive a well-rounded analysis which lends particularly well to college-level classroom use.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book is about leadership and motivation, and how both promote or demote creativity. It defines a leader as someone who has personal qualities and technical knowledge that, under a given situation, permit him or her to perform successfully a requisite function. The leader motivates people to follow him/her because everyone involved stands to gain. Everyone wins because the strategic and operational levels of the group “work harmoniously together as the organization’s leadership team” (p.33).
Creativity activities, like innovations, depend on motivation, and hence the 50-50 rule. The rule states that “50% of motivation comes from within a person and 50% from his or her environment, especially from the leadership encountered there” (p.). From here the book describes two psychological theories of motivation: Maslow’s theory and Herzberg’s theory. Maslow’s theory holds that motivation depends on physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. The more basic (biological) the needs, the easier it is to motivate a person from without. The higher level the needs, such as self-actualization, the more motivation must come from within a person.
For Herzberg creative efforts are like work. As with work motivation is determined by the satisfaction of people’s higher needs. A safe working environment is often a stronger motivator than a high salary. Nice stuff.
The last parts of the book outline eight principles on “how to motivate others”, beginning with the enthusiasm of the motivator. I resist the temptation to describe all the principles for fear of spoiling your reading of the book. Suffice to say the book is impressive. It is well organized. Each chapter has a “Key Points” section. Chapters also start and end with a memorable quotation from motivational leaders of all kinds. A very good book, indeed!
Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
Rating: 5 / 5