CEO motivation through the lens of self-determination theory

Purpose – This study examines CEOs' work-related motivational experiences and how these experiences range during their careers on the continuum from amotivation to intrinsic motivation. Design/methodology/approach – Interview study of twenty CEOs. The self-determination theory (SDT) framework was operationalized in a qualitative research setting and CEOs’ work event-related cognitive and affective experiences were analysed using this framework. Findings - The CEOs drew mainly on autonomous motivation based on identified and integrated regulation, which characterized their experience while studying and in the early phases of their careers. Most amotivation experiences were related to the mid-phase of careers. The late phases of careers were characterized by integrated regulation. Originality/value – The study extends the use of SDT to corporate top managers, specifically CEOs. It shows how, according to their own retrospective accounts, the quality of motivation changed throughout the CEOs careers. The study advances SDT theory by providing a framework for the qualitative analysis of both cognitive and affective aspects of motivation, which can be used in further studies by including both aspects in data collection methods such as survey questions. To date, most surveys have used cognitive definitions to measure amotivation and external types of motivation, and affectively tuned definitions when evaluating autonomous types of motivation. The use of both across the whole continuum of the motivation range is suggested here. Keywords: CEOs, motivation, self-determination theory, career event, qualitative study, autonomous motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation Paper type – Research paper