"In motivating people, you've got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example - and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved"
About this Quote
Effective leaders move people by appealing to both cognition and emotion. Aligning minds provides clarity, logic, and a sense of purpose; engaging hearts unlocks energy, loyalty, and the willingness to go beyond minimum requirements. Rupert Murdoch frames motivation as a practical craft grounded in behavior: do the work visibly, radiate momentum, and seed actionable ideas that others can take up. In fast-moving media environments where speed, competition, and creativity collide, this combination is especially potent. Staff do not simply process instructions; they read the leader’s pace, appetite for risk, and standards, and they mirror them.
Leading by example sets the cultural baseline. It shows what matters, how hard to push, and where boundaries can be stretched. Excitement functions as a social accelerant. It transforms directives into a shared adventure and makes urgency feel like opportunity rather than pressure. Productive ideas are the bridge between inspiration and execution. They provide tangible problems to solve and clear avenues for contribution, turning vague enthusiasm into collaborative work.
The phrase make others feel involved invites a useful tension. Feeling involved can be motivational even when structural power remains centralized, and Murdoch’s empire often reflected strong, top-down direction. Yet durable motivation requires more than the perception of agency; it needs actual influence, feedback loops, and recognition. When people see their input shaping outcomes, hearts-and-minds engagement becomes self-reinforcing rather than performative.
Murdoch’s career illustrates the strengths and risks of this approach. Bold moves, relentless example-setting, and a contagious competitive spirit built global scale. At the same time, critics have argued that aligning passion and intellect can be harnessed to ends that warrant ethical scrutiny. The formula still holds: pair clear ideas with visible commitment and real avenues for ownership. When minds are respected, hearts are stirred, and contributions matter, people do their best work and feel it is truly theirs.
Leading by example sets the cultural baseline. It shows what matters, how hard to push, and where boundaries can be stretched. Excitement functions as a social accelerant. It transforms directives into a shared adventure and makes urgency feel like opportunity rather than pressure. Productive ideas are the bridge between inspiration and execution. They provide tangible problems to solve and clear avenues for contribution, turning vague enthusiasm into collaborative work.
The phrase make others feel involved invites a useful tension. Feeling involved can be motivational even when structural power remains centralized, and Murdoch’s empire often reflected strong, top-down direction. Yet durable motivation requires more than the perception of agency; it needs actual influence, feedback loops, and recognition. When people see their input shaping outcomes, hearts-and-minds engagement becomes self-reinforcing rather than performative.
Murdoch’s career illustrates the strengths and risks of this approach. Bold moves, relentless example-setting, and a contagious competitive spirit built global scale. At the same time, critics have argued that aligning passion and intellect can be harnessed to ends that warrant ethical scrutiny. The formula still holds: pair clear ideas with visible commitment and real avenues for ownership. When minds are respected, hearts are stirred, and contributions matter, people do their best work and feel it is truly theirs.
Quote Details
| Topic | Leadership |
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