6. Power to Strength
Traditional hierarchical structures
and leadership models espouse
“carrot-and-stick” approaches to
motivation and the exercise of
power over others to spur action.
But does this dynamic of power over
really work in today’s organizations,
where idea generation and
continuous learning are typically
more important than filing one-byone behind the boss? The evidence
shows otherwise. Research by
Edward Deci and Richard Ryan has
shown repeatedly that sustainable
motivation emerges through selfdetermination and autonomy.
Coaches need to support leaders
in shifting toward this “power
with” approach to performance
improvement, which includes
extrinsic rewards at appropriate
moments but also creates the
conditions for a self-empowering,
self-authoring pa