The art of motivation is at the heart of leadership. There are thousands who claim to be great leaders, and they have their books and definitions, but are they really? Great leaders are too often rated by what their organizations achieve, but not by what they did to motivate their people to achieve it. The difference is like a coach who takes over a basketball team of Hall of Fame players vs. a coach who gets a team of mediocre talents. What a leader starts with is part of the equation.

Another seldom-discussed aspect of motivation is the overly motivated. Have you ever seen the worker whose level of motivation exceeds his or her level of competence? These are the people who stereotypically lean so far forward that they fall on their faces. How does a leader turn down the volume on these workers without turning it all the way off?

A discussion of motivation must necessarily include these extremes - from the "don't-want-to" to the "don't-know-how". It must also include the fundamental characteristics of first the motivator, or the leader, and then the individual to be motivated, or the worker.

Most importantly, the leader must be selfless. He or she must not be in it for personal gain or glory. Whatever the goal or achievement, the leader must work to ensure those who do the work will get the recognition. A great leader should instill a sense of personal pride in his or her workers.

Next, the leader must build a feedback process, both horizontally and vertically. Workers must be able to seek interim guidance and not wait until a task is completed to discover it is not correct. Mid-course direction serves to avoid wasted time and a potential need to start over. Horizontal feedback that provides peer-level influence and a sense of competition serves to motivate extremely well.

Finally, the leader must share information. Few workers truly understand what the leaders think. They know their individual narrow view of the operation, but not where they fit in the larger scheme of things, where the organization is going, or how it intends to get there. They are given a task to contribute, but not a stake in the outcome. This stake is pride in achievement that comes from clarity, not a monetary reward.

These characteristics, again, are fundamental, and must be the backbone of a successful leader. If these do not exist, no system of rewards or punishments will ever have any enduring value.

The most important characteristic of the

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