​Building an effective team begins with a fundamental understanding of motivation.

Motivation is anything that provides direction, intensity, and persistence to behavior. Intrinsic motivation is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. The three factors that drive intrinsic motivation are a sense of purpose (a cause greater than oneself), autonomy (being self-directed), and mastery (becoming better at something that matters to you).

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the individual and focuses on attaining an outcome. Factors that drive extrinsic motivation include rewards (promotions, money, good grades), competitions, coercion, and threats of punishment.

Job satisfaction is directly tied to the intrinsic factors of motivation—people like doing work that is inherently interesting and enjoyable; it provides value to them. Job dissatisfaction is influenced by negative factors of extrinsic motivation such as a bad leader (I should really say “person in charge”), poor work conditions, or low pay.

Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction act independently of each other, which means increasing the positive factors of extrinsic motivation (giving someone time off for example), will not increase job satisfaction; it will simply reduce job dissatisfaction. In other words, time off does not make the job more enjoyable (though it could make an unpleasant job less objectionable).

Creating an effective team means appealing to the factors that drive intrinsic motivation (purpose, autonomy, and mastery) while reducing the extrinsic factors that create job dissatisfaction. Too many times I have seen people who have left their volunteer positions supporting the community, as a result of poor leadership. I challenge you today to look at your organizations and see what YOU can do to start getting your folks to volunteer their energy and initiative to your cause. Let’s begin a leader revolution!
 
For Further Reading:
Richard L. Hughes, Robert C. Ginnett, and Gordon J. Curphy, Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2006.)
Daniel H. Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (New York: Riverhead Books, 2009), Chapters 4, 5, and 6.
Frederick Herzberg, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Harvard Business Review (January 2003.)
Carey W. Walker and Matthew J. Bonnot, “The Vision Process: Seven Steps to a Better Organization,” InterAgency Journal, Vol. 8, Issue 4 (2017.)

In the Ranger Creed, part of one of the stanzas says, "I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some." I want to talk about that, "and then some" today.  One of the things about mentally tough warriors, and good leaders, is that they're always looking around for more to carry than just their load. They are known for carrying their load and when needed, somebody else's. I think sometimes we forget that 100 percent and then some or we misinterpret it.
I saw excellent examples of this "and then some" from my time in the Army and the fire service. The leaders stand out; they are the ones who are always there to jump in when the mission can be furthered my pitching in. 
As an artillery Platoon leader, one of our tasks was to conduct rearming procedures for our three howitzers and three ammunition carriers. This task involved loading 37 rounds, weighing over 90 pounds each, into a howitzer, and over 90 rounds into an ammunition carrier. This was a huge physical task to be completed in the shortest possible time. The best platoon were the ones where every leader and additional Soldier pitched in. As the platoon leader, this meant sharing the burden with each gun section, but the added "then some" proved you were ready to do your duty and more for your Soldiers. 
I see similar situations on the fire training grounds. Individual firefighters' willingness to always pitch in to help reload the engine's supply line, versus those who claim they have already done it, and it is someone else's turn. Or, the one who realizes everyone is tired after working a fire but sees a need to secure equipment and does it instead of waiting for someone else. These are the folks whom people want on their team. That's the "one-hundred-percent and then some." These are also the leaders who set the example for those serving under them.
People around you every now and then will need help to load their ammunition or load that supply line. Your job is to carry your load and be ready to carry somebody else's. Time to pick up your gear, and then once you've got your gear loaded and you've packed all your stuff, I challenge you to find somebody else's equipment, pick it up and carry it for them because one day you may need them. 
​-JVC