4: Making Decisions to Motivate Others

Leadership was adeptly described by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower as “the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it” (Eisenhower, 1954, 0:05). Central to this description is “want,” which is associated with motivation. Why are we motivated to do one thing but not another? Motivation can be seen as a series of cost–benefit valuations where we measure the effort required (the cost of an action) against the expected rewards (its benefits; Chong et al., 2016). In this chapter, we will explore the neural mechanisms associated with “want” and how leaders can leverage the brain's “want” mechanism to motivate others.