What The CIA Can Teach You About Motivation

In the intelligence world, leveraging someone's motivation can determine success or failure of a mission. In the business world, there are some valuable lessons to be learned from the RICE modes of motivation.

Motivation

The RICE method, used in intelligence services to understand what motivates people, can also inform decisions within a successful leadership strategy.

→ RICE stands for Reward, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego.

Although the RICE method and theory is most often used within the intelligence community for the purposes of persuasion — think CIA and KGB — understanding its principles can help leaders improve their effectiveness by understanding how people are more genuinely and effectively motivated (or not).

Each individual on your team is unique and has their own core motivators. These core motivators are most accurately understood using the Core Values Index™ psychometric assessment. Understanding the specific CVI profile of each person on your team is how you can maximize your leadership effectiveness.

The CVI helps you lead individuals. Understanding the broader principles of the RICE method helps you when when motivating both individuals and groups in general.

Coupling the CVI along with the more fundamental principles of motivation specified in the RICE method can take your team's performance to the next level.

Reward

Reward and positive reinforcement is perhaps the easiest to understand of all the motivational methods. People are encouraged to continue certain behavior when that behavior is rewarded with something pleasurable. Rewards can include something tangible such as an increase in salary, bonuses, gifts, additional time off, or position advancement. A reward can also be praise or other "soft" rewards.

When it comes to praise, be aware that it isn't always effective when given in a group setting. Although many people enjoy receiving praise in front of their peers, some people find that to be very uncomfortable.

Know the personality of the individual receiving praise and express it in the method, manner and time best suited to them.

Ideology

Ideology speaks to the particular set of values the individual holds dear. Motivating someone via their ideology requires understanding what that individual values at a personal level and connecting your words and actions to those ideological values.

The ideological motivators in people can be powerful yet they hold a certain risk if you get it wrong. Be sure you fully understand the individual's ideological motivators before implementing them within your leadership approach.

Coercion

Using coercion to motivate others is the least desirable form in the RICE method. Coercion is in many ways the opposite of reward; instead of providing positive reinforcement to an action (reward), coercion attempts to motivate the individual to avoid a negative consequence.

Coercion can be overt ("Do what I say or you'll get fired") or subtle ("There are some rumors going around the water cooler about you...") The latter example, one of emotional manipulation, has its own set of short- and long-term risks. Both convey a lack of professional maturity and personal integrity.

There are many risks to using coercion to motivate someone. It can quickly lead to a toxic work environment, which often directly leads to increased (and expensive) turnover.

Coercion degrades trust because the individual immediately realizes you're willing to "use the stick instead of a carrot" (i.e., cause them harm) to get what you want.

Ego

Ego-based motivators can be mistaken for reward because they can take the form of similar rewarding actions such as recognition (praise), status (advancement), and personal achievement (awards). One way to differentiate between reward and ego is that rewards can be the steps you take to address the underlying ego-driven motivator that makes those rewards effective.

Not everyone responds the same to ego-driven motivators. Individuals motivated by ego are often ambitious and will actively seek roles that make them shine in front of their peers. They will frequently seek positions of leadership or supervision and are commonly seen as competitive.

Because of this, ego can be a powerful motivator but the effective leader must understand the personality profile of the individual first before relying on it.

Core Values Index™ and CVI™ are trademarks of Taylor Protocols, Inc.