Motivation Theory: What Motivates You

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
People around the world are different. They belong to different families and different cultures. Therefore, it is understandable that what motivates one person may not motivate another.

As a

DBA student at Walden University, your source of motivation as an employee or student may be different than your classmates’ sources. Previously, you may not have consciously considered

what motivates you or those around you.

However, considering your own and your colleagues’ experiences with motivation, along with insight provided by research on motivation and

leadership, may help you to better motivate yourself and others.

To prepare:
•Consider what personally motivates you as an employee and as a student.

Write an identification and analysis of your personal sources of motivation as an employee or student.

•MUST explain the reasons these sources influence you, situational factors that influence your sources of motivation, and the impact of motivation on your behavior within the organization.

•MUST explain how each of these facets of your analysis relate to motivational and leadership theory.