CASE STUDY 123

SYNTHESIS 130

LIFE'S WORK 136

The first step in a testy negotiation

The rise of women and the silence of men

Former Irish president Maiy
Robinson on wielding influence »(ähoiit authority Managing Your Professional Growth hbr.org

MANAGING YOURSELF

Know what really motivates you. by Heidi Grant Halvorson and E. Tory Higgins n n what kinds of situations are you most effective? What factors strengthen—or
U undermine—your motivation? People answer these questions in very different ways, and that's the challenge at the heart of good management—whether you're managing your own performsince or someone else's. One-size-fits-all principles don't work. The strategies that help you excel may not help your colleagues or your direct reports; what works for your boss or your mentor doesn't always work for you.
Personality matters.
In business the most common tool for identifying one's personality type is the
Myers-Bdggs Type Indicator. But the problem with this and many other assessment tools is that they don't actually predict performance. (In fairness to Myers-Briggs, it doesn't claim to.) These tests will tell you about attributes—such as your degree of introversion or extroversion, or your reliance on thinking versus feeling—that indicate what you like to do, but they tell you very little about whether you are good at it, or how to improve if you're not.
Fortunately, there is a way of grouping people into types on the basis of a personality attribute that does predict performance: promotion focus or prevention focus. Although these types Eire well known among academic psychologists and marketing and management researchers,
March 2013 Harvard Business Review 117

EXPERIENCE

word of them has not yetfiltereddown to the people who we believe could benefit most: managers keen tobe more effective in their jobs and to help others reach their full potential as well.
The Two Types
Motivational focus affects how we approach life's challenges and demands.
Promotion-focused people see their goals as creating a path to gain or advancement and concentrate on the rewards that will accrue when they achieve them. They are eager and they play to win. You'll recognize promodon-focused people as those who are comfortable taking chances, who like to work quickly, who dream big and think creatively. Unfortunately, all ,

The promotion-focused are engaged by inspirational role models, the prevention-focused by cautionary tales. that chance taking, speedy working, and positive thinking makes these individuals more prone to error, less likely to think things through, and usually unprepared with a plan B if things go wrong. That's a price they are willing to pay, because for the promotion-focused, the worst thing is a chance not taken, a reward unearned, a failure to advance.
Prevenüon-focused people, in contrast, see their goals as responsibilities, and they concentrate on staying safe. They worry about what might go wrong ifthey don't work hard enough or aren't careful enough. They are vigilant and play to not lose, to hang on to what they have, to maintain the status quo. They are often more risk-averse, but their work is also more thorough, accurate, and carefully considered. To succeed, they work slowly and meticulously. They aren't usually the most creative thinkers, but they may have excellent analytical and problem-solving
118 Harvard Business Review March 2013

skills. While the promotion-minded generate lots of ideas, good and bad, it often takes someone prevention-minded to tell the difference between the two.
Although everyone is concemed at various times with both promotion and prevention, most of us have a dominant motivational focus. It affects what we pay attention to, what we value, and how we feel when we succeed or fail. It determines our strengths aiid weaknesses, both personally and professionally. And it's why the decisions and preferences of our differently focused colleagues can seem so odd at times.
Most readers will be able to identify their dominant focus immediately. But if you can't, here are some signs to look for in yourself or your colleagues:
Promotionfocused people

Preventionfbcused people

work quickly

work slowly and deliberately thoroughness—they are jobs in which attention to detail is what really pays off.
The promotion-focused are likely to pursue "artistic and investigative" careers, as musicians, copywriters, inventors, and consultants. These tend to be thinkoutside-the-box jobs, in which people are rewarded for creative and irmovaüve thinking, and being practical isn't emphasized. Your focus might also steer you toward a particular industry. Promotion-focused leaders tend to be most effective in dynamic industries, where it's important to respond rapidly and irmovaüvely to stay ahead. Prevention-focused leaders are most effective in more stable industries, where avoiding catastrophic error is often the key to success.

Creating Motivational Fit

Once you know your focus, you can choose role models, frame goals, seek or consider lots of give feedback, and provide incentives tend to be accurate alternatives and are that will strengthen your motivation or great brainstormers are prepared for the your team's. Motivationalfitenhances are open to new worst and sustains both the eagerness ofthe opportunities are stressed by short promotion-minded and the vigilance of are optimists deadlines the prevention-minded, making work stick to tried-andplan only for bestseem more valuable and thus boosting true ways of doing case scenarios both performance and enjoyment. When things seek positive the motivational strategies we use don't are uncomfortable feedback and lose align with our dominant focus, we are less with praise or steam without it optimism likely to achieve our goals. feel dejected or depressed when feel worried or
Choosing role models. Storytelling things go wrong anxious when things has long been touted as a motivational go wrong tool. But different types of people need varying kinds of stories. Studies show that the promotion-focused are more engaged
Simply identifying your own type when they hear about an inspirational should help you embrace your strengths role model, such as a particularly highas well as recognize and compensate for performing salesperson or a uniquely your weaknesses. To some extent people effective team leader. The prevenüondo this intuitively. Studies show that focused, in contrast, are impressed by a prevention-focused individuals are likely strong cautionary tale about someone to take up what organizational psychologists call "conventional and realistic" work, whose path they shouldn't follow, because thinking about avoiding mistakes feels as administrators, bookkeepers, accounright to them. As an individual, you tants, technicians, and manufacturing naturally pay attention to the kind of story workers. These occupations require that resonates most with you. But as a colknowledge of rules and regulations, league or a boss, you should think about careful execution, and a propensity for

HBR.ORG

W h e n Personalities Don't Match by Andrew Kakabadse and Nada K. Kakabadse

what happens v\^en differing personality types work together yet don't appreciate each; other's \
'\
1 strehgths? Over the past 20 years we have.done research with leaders in more thain 12-5ÖO privat^, í;
I public, military, áhd government organizations across 21 countries. Here's what we've fojinidi;
; r
PROMOTION BOSS
*
PREVENTION EMPLOYEE

PROMOTION EMPLOYEE

PROMOTION BOSS

PREVENTION EMPLOYEE

PREVENTION BOSS

B

Q

wPElf^^TlOM BOSS ~
*
^ :^ :
;
::
; PROMOTION aHPLOYEE
B
• ;• r ' Eii*i'i^i=i
;

c
'•
Í

1

'•
••

"• :
? •

1 ^ Andrew Kakabadse is a professor of international management development at Crarifield :
Weii University's School of Management in the UK. Nada K. Kakabádse' is.aiprofessor of nikn- S agement and business research at the University of Northampton's Éusiness'School inHhe UK.
1

whether the stories yon share with others it can mcike a difference. One of our faare motivational for them. vorite studies on this subject comes from
It's also important to seek out mentors
Germany. Coaches in a highly regarded and, when possible, fuaare bosses whose semiprofessional soccer league were told focus matches your own and, if you're to prep their players for high-pressure a manager, to subtly adapt your style to penalty kicks with one of two statements: suit each employee's focus. According
"You are going to shootfivepenalties. Your to recent research, promotion-minded aspiration is to score at least three times." employees thrive und» transformational
Or "You are going to shootfivepenalties. leaders, who support creative solutions,
Your obligarion is to not miss more than have a long-term vision, and look for ways twice." You probably wouldn't expect a to shake things up. The preventionsmall change in wording to affect these focused are at their best under transacpracticed, highly motivated players. But it tional leaders, who emphasize rules and had a big impact. Players did significantly standards, protect the status quo, tend better when the instructions were framed toward micromanagement, discourage to match their dominant motivadonal foerrors, and focus on effectively reaching cus, which the researchers had previously more-immediate goals. When people find measured. This was especially true for themselves working for a leader who fits, prevenüon-minded players, who scored they say that they value their work signifi- nearly twice as often when they received cantly more and are less likely to want to the don't-miss instructions. leave the organization."When employees
In another study that used framing, and bosses are mismatched, enjoyment of students were assigned to write a report, and commitment to work declines. If no for which they would be paid, and deliver one works to counteract the tension, seriit by a certain date. They were asked to ous problems can arise (See the exhibit make a specific plan, detailing when,
"'/Vhen Personalities Don't Match.") where, and how they would write the
Framing the goal. Sometimes even report. minor tweiiks in how you think about a
One version of the instructions was goal or the language you use to describe designed tofita promotion focus:

Imagine a convenient time ¡when you will be able to write your report.
Imagine a comfortable, quiet place where you might write your re Dort.
Imagine yourself capturing as many details as you can and making you- report vivid and interesting. The other version was designed tofita prevention focus:
Imagine times that will be iTconvenient for writing your report so that you can avoid them.
Imagine places that will be uncomfortable or have lots of distraction so that you can avoid writing your œport there.
Imagine yourself net forgetting any details and being careful not to mske your report bland or boring.

Remarkably, students who received instructions suited to their dominant morivational focus were about 50% more likely than others to tumin their reports.
So when you are trying to keep yourself or someone else morivated, remember that promotion-focused people need to think about what they are doing in terms of positives (v/hat they aspire to, how best to accomplish the task) and preventionfocused people should instead think about negatives (potential mistakes, obstacles to avoid).
March 2013 Harvard Business Review 119

HBR.ORG

EXPERIENCE

Seeking or giving feedback. Once goals are set in a way that creates motivationalfit,you must sustain thefitby seeking out—or, as a manager, giving— therightkind of feedback. Promotionfocused people tend to increase their efforts when a supervisor offers them praise for excellent work, whereas preventionfocused people are more responsive to criticism and the looming possibility of failure. For instance, in one study we found that the promotion-focused were more motivated and tried harder in the midst of a task when they were assured that they were on target to reach a goal as opposed to when they were told that they were below target but could catch up. For prevention-focused people the reverse was true; They tried harder when told they weren't on target; in fact, being assured of success undermined their motivation. We aren*t suggesting that you seek out false praise or unwarranted criticism, or offer up either one as a manager. But if you're promotion-minded, you can look for people who will give you the positive, inspirational message you need. And if you're prevention-minded, you should routinely ask colleagues for constructive criticism. As a manager, you should always give honest feedback, but you might want to adjust your emphasis to maximize

motivation. Don't be overly effusive when praising the prevention-focused, and don't gloss over mistakes they've made or areas that need improvement. Meanwhile, don't be overly critical when delivering bad news to the promotion-focused— they need reassurance that you have confidence in their ability and recognize their good work.
Providing incentives. Tangible incentives are another way to sustain motivationalfit.This is not as simple as "rewards are motivating," because incentives vary according to personality type. You can create your own incentives
("If I finish this project by Friday, I will treat myself to a spa day," or "If I don't

Don't be overly effusive with the preventionfocused or overly critical with the promotion-focused. finish this project by Friday, I will spend the weekend cleaning out the garage"), and you can push to make sure your employees' incentives create fit.
It's also important to avoid incentives that aren't aligned with focus, because

A Word About Promotion-Prevention Hybrids
Most people have a dominant focus, but some seem to wear both hats equally often.
To create motivational fit and enhance performance for these hybrids, you must remember that no one can wear both hats at the same time. Hybrids will adopt one focus or the other, often as a function of which motivation is best suited to the task at handso let that be your guide. Create fit for tasks involving safety or accuracy by using prevention feedback and incentives, but use the promotion variety for tasks involving creativity or advancement.

lao Harvard Business Review March 3013

they can be demotivating. For example, after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the public relations disaster it created for
BP, the company's new CEO, Bob Dudley, changed the rules governing employee bonuses: Increasing safety would be the sole criterion on which they were calculated. One well-known shortcoming of this approach is that it can lead to the underreporting of problems rather than to an actual increase in safety. But a second importantflawis probably now also obvious: Rewarding people for safety is a poor motivationalfit.The thought of a bonus makes people eager and willing to take chances (promotion), which is the opposite of being vigilant and avoiding mistakes (prevention). On the other hand, penalties—such as taking bonus money away—for not meeting new safety standards would provide therightkind of motivational fit.
W B LE E that a promotion focus and
E EIV a prevention focus are two legitimate ways of looking at the same goal. You may think your business should concentrate on creating new opportunities for advancement, while your colleague thinks the emphasis should be on protecting your relationships with existing clients—and you are both right. Promotion-focused and preventionfocused people are crucial for every organization's success, despite the potential for infighting and poor communication.
Businesses (and teams) need to excel at innovation and at maintaining what works, at speed and at accuracy. The key is to understand and embrace our personality types and those of our colleagues, and to bring out the best in each of us. 0
HBR Reprint m3O3L

Heidi Grant Hatvorson is a social psychologist and the author of Wine Things
Successful People Do Differently (Harvard
Business Review Press, 2011). E. Tory Hig^ns is a professor of psychology and management and the director of the Motivation Science Center at
Columbia University. They are the authors of
Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World to
Power Success and Influence (Hudson Street
Press, forthcoming).

Harvard Business Review Notice of Use Restrictions, May 2009
Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources. Business licensees may not host this content on learning management systems or use persistent linking or other means to incorporate the content into learning management systems. Harvard Business Publishing will be pleased to grant permission to make this content available through such means. For rates and permission, contact permissions@harvardbusiness.org.