Should money alone motivate someone to take on a leadership role?

FROM MENTOR TO FOUNDER What's this?Okay, money.Ah, mentorship."Can money be a sufficient motivation to take on an executive position?

So, I usually direct this question to recent executives,or to future executives who I had the pleasure of meeting during my last working years, as they would occasionally contact me since they had to prepare for situational assessment interviews.

At Daimler, this was the system: you could only get into executive roles if you had passed those interviews,which tested if you were suitable for the role.

The preparation for them was… Diverse, but some candidates tried to find a mentor to guide them through the process and help them face the assessment centre.

To my delight, many aspiring executives reached out to seek my advice and asked if I could help them.

The most interesting part is that they weren't colleagues from the same field.

They came from other areas and had noticed me.The most meaningful part for me was taking the time to meet with them,to talk and go deeper into the subject.

Normally, when you're starting out,and this is something that has marked my life I think that, to break the ice, it's important to open up and share certain personal aspects that someone you've just met might not expect,and they might think,"Why is he opening up so much and telling me this?" And that, precisely, stirred a lot in those young people.

I always told them, and shared with them how my career had unfolded,both the planned and the unplanned parts,and I always insisted,"You need to be completely sure why you want to become executives.

What drives you to become executives?" Because in an assessment centre, that is the key question from the examiners, from the panel sitting there.

They want to know what young people want to achieve as members of the executive team. What motivates them?

I've even sat in an assessment centre myself and heard these people say,"Well, I want to earn more money.

I want a company car." That cannot be the motivation of an executive.

You have to ask yourself: "What do I want to achieve?

I want to inspire my team, take on responsibilities,help out, and actively contribute to the company's growth.

I want to generate benefits with the teams I lead." That way, I could give the young professionals a few tips, and the best part was watching them pass their situational assessment interviews.

Most of them did.Later, they would come back with lots of positive feedback,sometimes even years later, when you ran into them at a café, and they would say,"Do you remember when…? Now, I'm doing this and that." For me, personally,it was always an enormous joy,and also a sign that maybe I hadn't done too badly in mentoring young minds.

So, what drove you?Well, my motivation is a bit diverse.

I've certainly reflected on it some time.Surely, my motivation was influenced by my family.

I can openly say now that, in my younger years,I sometimes felt that my family was, in a sense, holding me back.

You could call it late maturity, some people just hit puberty later.

That was my case, and I always had to prove something,because physically I was also behind,until I was 16 or 17 years old.

That's why I always wanted to prove something.After that, I took self-defence classes and gradually improved from the start to build my self-confidence.

And I realized a few years later that my motivation was probably to show my family what I was capable of,that I could achieve more and push myself more.

When I started my own family, my drive was to provide them with security.

It was a powerful motivation: "Keep pushing yourself,show them what you can achieve in life and give your family the chance for a better life." That was truly my greatest motivation,and something I would tell myself:"Yes, it's been worth it." Because it's a great pride and,above all, a satisfaction to be able to look back with gratitude and say:"I have been able to fulfil and achieve many of the dreams I've had, and that is very rewarding."