Motivation - Christine Cho

When I first started working, I thought making lots of money and having a fancy title would be enough to keep me motivated and focused on my job. At the end of the day, I go my fancy title and the pay that goes with it, but found that it was just a job. What really motivated me more was the competitiveness of getting to where I was. The main reason I was self-motivated to pursue my MBA was based on competitiveness. I was on a business trip and noticed that a colleague of mine from another site had the same accounting book I used in undergraduate school. I mentioned that I had the book and she responded, "You don't have this book, this is the MBA version." I didn't really know how to respond to her comment in a tactful way, but I just said, "No really, it's the same book. They used the same book for undergrad and graduate students at my school." The same year I was promoted to a level higher than her, so I felt that I had won that battle. However, I thought I'd show her by getting my MBA just in case she wanted to make a similar comment in the future.

There are times when I really hate my job. Generally, it's at the beginning of the month when we have to produce monthly reports and metrics. I dread these days because the tasks are boring and repetitive. However, there are ways to make it fun. We track the same metrics across all of all company sites so I compare my performance to others within the company. Competition keeps me motivated at work. I'm a better leader than a follower.

I really hate using fear to motivate others. I think having a common goal and motivating others to compete to win is my approach to motivation. My energy when I am determined to win is motivating to others around me. Recently, we had a department team building competition. I was the Captain of my team. I had a team of underdogs, but we managed to take 1st place in the team building.

Fear is commonly used at work by our Site Vice President. Unfortunately, his use of fear has caused people to do unethical things and those people were fired. I believe fear should be used as a last resort. People should know that you have the power, but will only use it if every other option has been exhausted. I am in a position of power because I work in Quality and that carries a lot of weight in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, I work closely with the Site Quality Head and people know that I can influence his decision. Therefore, most people will comply with my requests and cooperate because they know if they don't, the outcome can be far worse.

Most days I am fortunate enough to rely on my likability and people will do things for me because they like me. Perhaps, as a leader this is not always the best way to motivate people. It works for me and people are willing to help me out because in the end they know that I would never throw them under the bus... unless they really deserve it.