What Drives You? Discovering Your Inner Motivation as a Manager

The first post in a six-part series on finding meaning in your managerial role.

Management is one of the most challenging roles. There’s so much responsibility, daily pressure, and constant problems to solve. Amid all this, it’s easy to forget why you chose this role in the first place.

This post will help you reconnect with your personal “why” – to understand what truly drives you and find meaning in what you do.

Step One: Reflect on Moments That Felt Right

Pause for a moment and think about the times in your role when you felt truly meaningful and fulfilled.

Perhaps it was when you successfully led a major project, supported a team member through a challenge, or tackled a complex problem and found a solution.

Ask yourself: What exactly about that moment made you feel significant?

Example: Think back to a time when a team member came to you with a personal issue, and you helped them find a solution. Seeing them return to work with renewed energy was a moment of real impact.

Step Two: Identify the Common Thread

Think about several similar moments and try to figure out what they have in common. Are they about helping others? Leading change? Or maybe it’s about your ability to handle challenges?

Simple exercise: Write down three significant moments and add a word next to each that explains why it was meaningful to you.

Example: If all the moments involve teamwork, your sense of meaning might come from connecting with people and supporting them.

Step Three: Understand Your Inner Motivation

These moments reveal what’s truly important to you in your role. Your motivation might be the desire to make an impact, a sense of purpose, or the determination to achieve big goals.

This motivation is your personal “why” – the reason you keep going.

Example: If your motivation is leading change, it might mean focusing on initiatives that allow you to drive meaningful projects forward.

Step Four: Integrate Your Motivation Into Your Routine

The most important step is turning your motivation into part of your daily work.

This might mean planning time for projects that align with your values, having meaningful conversations with your team, or prioritizing challenges that need your attention.

Example: If your motivation is solving problems, you could dedicate time each day to addressing the most pressing challenges and bringing them to resolution.

To Summarize the Post

Finding meaning in your role begins with identifying what truly drives you. Once you understand this, the path to building a deeper connection to your work becomes much clearer.

In the next post, we’ll discuss how to identify the moments when you feel most significant and how to use them as a roadmap for purpose-driven management.