Hint: It's not the desire for a promotion.
Lou Holtz once said talent determines what you can do, motivation determines how much you are willing to do and attitude determines how well you do it.
That second factor, motivation, is the glue between what can be done and how well it's done. Insigniam asked middle managers to think about what they find most motivating in the job environment, whether external factors that encourage top results or internal motivations that give them drive to succeed.
The results are part of Insigniam's 2014 Middle Management Survey, which is based on responses from 200 managers in Global 1000 companies from several industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and biotech. These middle managers reported at least two levels of management between them and the highest executive in their company.
Percent of managers most motivated by:
• The type of work they do — 37 percent
• Leading others — 21 percent
• Reputation and recognition — 15 percent
• Client or customer expectations — 11 percent
• Their leader or leaders — 3 percent
• The drive to be promoted — 3 percent