If a strategy implementer’s motivational approach and reward structure includes too much stress, internal competitiveness, and job insecurity, the results can be counterproductive. The prevailing view is that manager’s push for strategy implementation should be more positive than negative because when cooperation is positively enlisted and rewarded, rather than strong-armed by a boss’s orders, people tend to respond with more enthusiasm, effort, creativity, and initiative. Yet it is unwise to completely eliminate pressure for performance and the anxiety it evokes. There is no evidence that a no-pressure work environment leads to superior strategy execution or sustained high performance. There is a deliberate policy to create a level of anxiety. Winners usually play like they’re one touchdown behind. High performing organizations need ambitious people who relish the opportunity to climb the ladder of success, love a challenge, thrive in a performance-oriented environment, and find some competition and pressure useful to satisfy their own drives for personal recognition, accomplishment, and self satisfaction. Unless compensation, career, and job satisfaction consequences are tied to successfully implementing strategic initiatives and hitting strategic performance targets, few people will attach much significance to the company’s vision, objectives, and strategy.
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