NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD, Portsmouth, Va. –
Have you ever heard the metaphor, “carrots and sticks”? Dating back all the way to the mid-19th century, this idiom poses two different methods when it comes to behavioral motivation – with incentives stemming by either the “carrot” or the “stick.” And no, I don’t mean actual vegetables and twigs.
In the four-hour course entitled Carrots and Sticks, Code 2300T Professional Development Facilitator Clinton McRae Jr. leads a workshop to explain the “carrots and sticks” approach and helps you determine what paths work best in various scenarios when it comes to leadership at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY).
“The ‘carrot’ is the idea that you promise and provide rewards in exchange for the cooperation of others,” said McRae. “The ‘stick’ is more aligned to there being undesired consequences in response to noncompliance. The ‘carrot’ is considered soft power – while the ‘stick’ is considered hard power. Both are methods that gain results, though it is important to be able to determine in your scenarios which approach works best with those you’re working to motivate into producing results.”
When it comes to the soft power approach at the shipyard, it can be something as simple as motivating your team that if they do a good job on the project, they will be provided with a time-off award reflected in a future leave and earnings statement. It relies on that positive motivation to set your team on the right course, helping to inspire and influence them into making those right decisions in order to complete the task at hand – which is your end goal in the exchange.
With hard power, it takes a more hardball approach – showing a more strict influence by utilizing those undesired consequences should an action take place or not. For example, when a leader makes a point of saying that something isn’t tolerated and if you complete that action, you will be reprimanded.
“There’s a variety of scenarios we approach both in this class and in everyday life as emerging leaders in our fields that require us to take a look at what path works best for all involved,” said McRae. “We share our approaches, exchange ideas, and work to improve the way we approach these situations head-on. It truly comes from engagement and motivation, understanding your team and what they need in those certain scenarios. We want to help you build on those skills to identify and approach them with the best path forward.”
This course is available through the Nuclear Engineering and Planning Department (NEPD) and can be registered through Waypoints with the course title 24-NNSY (CS2300T-1) CARROTS AND STICKS.