To become a transcendent leader, we must understand what truly motivates people.

Author and leadership expert Fred Kofman believes there are four levers leaders must utilize to capture the hearts and minds of their team members.  

Yesterday, we looked at the power of purpose.  Today, we detail three other powerful tools transcendent leaders tap into to build inspired organizations: Principles, People, and Autonomy.

First up: Principles.  

“As a culture architect,” … continue reading

1: Michi, Fred Kofman‘s then seven-year-old daughter, saw him packing for a business trip.  

“Please, Daddy, don’t go,” she begged.

“I was tempted,” Fred recalls in his book The Meaning Revolution, “to give her a perfunctory and dismissive response like ‘I wish I could, sweetie, but Daddy has to work.'”

But that’s not what he said.  Fred paused for a moment.  He would be traveling to the headquarters … continue reading

1: Management author Daniel Pink observes: “When it comes to motivation, the only reason to put money on the table is to take the issue of money off the table.”

What exactly does that mean?

Monetary and material rewards are “hygiene factors,” says management psychologist Frederick Herzberg.  Their “absence or unfairness can cause people to disengage, but their presence doesn’t make them feel engaged.”

Which is something most leaders … continue reading

1: Amy, a millennial, had just graduated from college.  She was hired as a telesales representative at a software firm.

Amy took the job, knowing it wasn’t a “career job.”  But she needed to pay her rent, Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution.

“Her job was to cold-call people who had previously used the company’s software to sell them a new product,” Fred writes. 

Her compensation?  $20 per … continue reading

1: “A lot of leaders are rowing a boat. They’re bringing everyone along with them, and saying, ‘Come follow me,'” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution.

“But the way I’ve seen Jeff Weiner (Executive Chairman of LinkedIn) and other great leaders do it, they’ll go and get on a surfboard. They don’t say, ‘Follow me.’ They say, ‘Come join us on this huge wave.'”

What’s the difference … continue reading

1: “Culture can be a hard topic to get one’s head around,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.

Perhaps the best definition comes from Marvin Bower, McKinsey & Company‘s former managing director, who said culture is “the way we do things around here.” 

Which is why the world’s best … continue reading

1: The year was 2012.  DBS, a large Asian bank headquartered in Singapore, had a problem.  Card skimmers had hacked into their ATMs.  Money was being stolen. 

CEO Piyush Gupta moved quickly to identify how the breach had happened.  

“The problem was traced to a decision made by a junior operations colleague,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That … continue reading

“The wicked leader is he whom the people despise.  The good leader is he whom the people revere. The great leader is he of whom the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.'” —Lao Tzu 

1: Is there a difference between rowing and sailing?

You bet there is.

“A boat moved by mere muscle is no match for one moved by wind,” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution: … continue reading

1: Not as much as we might think.

“Like an iceberg, salary and benefits are the visible part,” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.

“But they comprise less than 15 percent of our motivation,” he notes.

The research shows that 85 percent of the reasons we are engaged at work lie below the surface.  

“And that part,” Fred notes, “is composed of respect, … continue reading

1: What exactly is the “parenthood paradox”? 

Research shows that most parents of grown-up children are very happy they’ve had them, Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution.

Yet, parents still living with children in the home score low on happiness.

So what’s going on here?

“It seems that raising kids decreases happiness but increases meaning,” Fred observes.

Which suggests a higher-level insight: “Happiness and meaning often build on … continue reading