Does the carrot and stick approach to motivation really work?

For many people, accountability is a negative thing because they’re used to the old carrot stick approach to management. The carrot stick approach is a tool used by power leaders (or passive leaders) to coerce or to seduce people into action. I’m going to coerce you with the stick. I’m going to seduce you with the carrot. In both cases, you’re creating a dysfunctional relationship with your rep.

You’re creating a quid pro quo, and it’s not about the team. It’s about whether they’re going to be punished or rewarded, and it creates a very negative relationship between the rep and the manager. 

We want to think about accountability as a way to motivate someone to continuously improve. That’s the other side of the equation. By using accountability to identify ways we can improve, accountability becomes a positive experience. It becomes something that adds value, and it becomes something that aligns my rep and me to get better, together. 

We’re walking the journey together, and we’re improving together. We’re using accountability as a tool to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments to achieve our shared objective.

If you have any questions, hit me up.

We are here to help!