The Basic Idea
Do you remember when your parents told you that if you did something you loved, you’d never work a day in your life? The famous saying is comforting in theory, however, most of us probably still feel like we engage in our work for more than just passion. Even if we enjoy it inherently, few people would agree to continue their responsibilities if their salary was taken away.
We are often motivated by reward; thoughts of recognition or compensation push us to work hard. Efficient leadership requires motivating employees to be productive and satisfied at work. One technique to achieve high levels of motivation is called reward power. Reward power is all about harnessing the power of incentives. Incentives can be tangible, such as bonuses, salary increases, promotions, and certificates, or intangible, such as praise and recognition.1
Reward power works through positive reinforcement. According to the behavioral perspective, we learn through our past experiences with stimuli. If producing a high quality of work has previously led to a reward, we come to associate that behavior with the reward and are more likely to repeat it in the future.
An incentive is a bullet, a key: an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation.
– American economist Steven Levitt in his book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything2
