Page 53 - Develop your leadership skills- John Adair. -- 2nd ed

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44 ■ Develop your leadership skills

proposed changes, then as a leader you should expect a stoutly
defended response. Secondly, a satisfied need ceases to moti-
vate. When one area of need is met, the people concerned
become aware of another set of needs within them. These in
turn now begin to motivate them.

There is obviously much in this theory. When the physiological
and safety needs in particular have been satisfied they do not
move us so strongly. How far this principle extends up the hier-
archy is a matter for discussion.

Maslow’s theory and other approaches based upon it are, I
suggest, only a half-truth. Fifty per cent of our motivation
comes from within us, as our unique pattern of individual
needs unfolds inside ourselves and points us in certain direc-
tions. But the other 50 per cent comes from outside ourselves,
and especially from the leadership that we encounter. I am not
stating this 50:50 principle as a mathematical formula: it is just
a way of saying that a very significant part of our motivation
lies beyond us. Therefore as a leader you can have an immense
effect upon the motivation of those around you. How do you
do it? See ‘Key principles for motivating others’ below for some
suggestions.

Inspiration is not quite the same as motivation. ‘To inspire’
means literally ‘to breathe into’ – ‘inspiration’ is a cousin of
‘respiration’. Breath was once thought to be life – God’s breath.
So all inspiration was originally thought to be divine, and
leadership itself – at least in its outstanding forms – was
regarded as a divine gift.

What is it in a leader that inspires you? Enthusiasm, example,
professional ability – there are many strands. But inspiration is