Stephanie Dillon is Chief Ideator at Stephanie Dillon Art.
Companies are in business to make money, but in my view, money shouldn’t be the only or most significant factor motivating people to achieve success.
A meta-analysis of different studies shed light on this issue. Recapping the findings, one of the paper’s authors, Marylène Gagné, wrote in a Psychology Today article that “9 percent of motivation comes from rewards and punishments, such as pay, bonuses, promotions, and keeping your job. This form of motivation is most associated with staying with an employer because there are no better options out there. It was not strongly associated with performance, nor with well-being.” I’ve found this to be true in my career, both as an employee and now as a business owner.
Unfortunately, I’ve observed that too often, people in the business world, be they employers or employees, fall into the trap of being motivated solely or primarily by money. In my opinion, falling into this trap is a mistake—ironically, the more you’re driven by money, the more your work can suffer. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to focus on business leaders and the five grounding principles for success, not involving money, that I believe they should consider.
1. Treat People Well
Rarely, if ever, can a business thrive on the shoulders of one person. How you treat the people who work for you, as well as your customers, matters.
Consider a survey of 3,000 full-time workers in the United States in 10 industries published in 2022 by GoodHire, an employment and background screening provider. The survey uncovered that “while many (70%) said they strongly enjoy or somewhat enjoy working for their manager, a large group (82%) of American workers said they might quit their job because of a bad manager.” By treating your workers well, you can increase the likelihood that they will stay with your company, growing alongside your business.
As for customers, Emplifi, a customer engagement solution provider, surveyed “nearly 1,000 U.S. consumers across generations” in 2024 and found “that customer experience is a critical factor in brand loyalty with 70% of consumers admitting they will leave a brand after just two bad experiences and another 24% who said they would depart after only one bad experience.” Treat your customers well, and chances are, they’ll remain your customers for the long haul.
2. Prioritize Honesty
I believe that as business leaders, we should all ask ourselves what kind of organizations we’re running as far as honesty goes.
Without honesty (or with too little of it), an organization can fail to develop a moral compass, which can have serious ramifications for its employees, customers and society. Consider some of the biggest business scandals in recent history, such as Enron and FTX—they were rooted in dishonesty.
As business leaders, we should set an expectation for honesty at our companies by exemplifying it ourselves. By approaching situations with integrity, we can influence our employees to do so and ultimately create a culture where morals and ethics drive actions.
3. Celebrate Uniqueness
Each person is unique, with different life experiences, knowledge, skills and perspectives. However, I’ve observed that far too often in the corporate world, organizations stifle individuality.
Stifling individuality, in my view, is a disservice to your team and can thwart your organization’s chances of reaching its fullest potential. As explained in Psychology Today by academics Janelle E. Wells and Doreen MacAulay, “A workplace culture that implicitly or explicitly demands conformity can stifle innovation and punish norm violators. When employees feel pressured to conform, they are less likely to bring their unique perspectives and ideas to the table.”
You’ll never know what great ideas your employees have if you don’t give them the space to be themselves and voice them—and as Wells and MacAulay emphasized, “Employees who feel they cannot be themselves at work are more likely to disengage and seek employment elsewhere, leading to a loss of talent and increased recruitment costs.” So, those great ideas that they weren’t able to bring up at your business? They might end up benefiting a competitor.
4. Empower Others In Decision-Making
There are different types of organizational structures, and they have pros and cons. However, in my view, business leaders should empower their employees in decision-making to the extent possible when it’s appropriate to do so, rather than positioning themselves as the primary decision-makers in all areas.
Put yourself in your employees’ shoes. If you had to run every single decision at work by your boss, you’d likely feel exhausted and demoralized with time. The message being sent in such an arrangement essentially boils down to, “We don’t trust you to do the right thing, so you can’t do anything here without our approval.”
Organizational advisors Herman Vantrappen and Frederic Wirtz explained it well in a Harvard Business Review article (paywalled): While “decentralizing control” isn’t possible “with every decision,” you can pinpoint which decisions to centralize and which not to. How? By examining “responsiveness, reliability, efficiency, and perennity” at your organization. Specifically, they advised, “Think through which of these is most important to each aspect of your business. In units where reliability is the most important, for example, consider keeping power centralized. In teams where responsiveness is everything, decentralize away.”
5. Expand Your Definition Of Success
In business, I’ve observed that there can be a tendency to equate success primarily with financial performance. Of course, finances are important. If your company doesn’t generate enough revenue, it’ll struggle to stay afloat.
But in my view, it’s paramount that we expand our definition of success to include factors beyond money, such as quality of life, happiness and making a positive impact. For instance, you might decide to take a new executive role that pays you a little less than what you were seeking but that enables you to work remotely, work in an industry you’re passionate about or make a difference in your community. I believe that’s worth it.
Success has different forms. I believe that as business leaders, by expanding our definition of success, empowering others in decision-making, celebrating uniqueness, prioritizing honesty and treating people well, we have an opportunity to help ourselves and other people reach their full potential.
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