An often repeated term at job is the need to have “self motivation”. However another term that is often heard is “frustration”. Why is there a great feeling of frustration when the expectation is to be self motivated ? What are the factors that contribute to success in self-motivation and reducing the element of frustration ?

There could be many factors if one considers a daily average day of a person. This could range from issues at work, to those issues indirectly related to work – for e.g. commuting through heavy traffic, lunch quality, etc. However those these add to the day-to-day frustration, they are not necessarily the root cause. The indirect issues can act as a great catalyst for the frustration that could lead to a potential burn down / break up at career but are definitely not the root causes. From what I have experienced and understood over the many years at work, there are two main factors that contribute significantly to either an increasing motivation or an increasing frustration – depending on whether the factors are defined or not. These two factors are – role and responsibility.

One of my friends used to often complain as to how his manager used to always assign the same work to two equally capable people without clearing defining any role or responsibility for each of them. This, the manager believed, would give him better output and would truly put the ‘survival of fittest’ theory into practice. This would be a good option if there are competing teams or people. However for teams that need to work together to achieve success, such a strategy would lead to high confusion, reduced output and increase in frustration.

No matter what the level of experience, every person thrives when assigned a defined role and responsibility. Even in unclear situations, there needs to be a defined role and responsibility. The role clearly tells the person how valuable he/she is to the team in achieving the results. The responsibility clearly brings in a sense of ownership and resulting accountability thereby increasing the commitment and focus. The value that a person brings in, coupled with the commitment that the person puts in would directly contribute to an environment where it is easier to be self-motivated. One of the core aspects of leadership that I believe, is to create the right environment and this starts with a clear definition of the role and assigning clear responsibility. It goes without saying that everyone, including leaders, are learning and as part of the learning process there could be changes to roles and responsibilities. But even in dynamic situations, clarity on these factors removes confusion.