Two ‘Motivating’ Questions For Leaders

As a leader, which question do you think is more important 1) how do I motivate my staff? OR 2) how do I stop de-motivating my staff?

In my experience question number two has frequently proven to be more important.  If you find that surprising, keep in mind….

….motivation is largely intrinsic—it emanates from within.  There is only so much leaders can do when they press the ‘motivation lever’. People really motivate themselves.

…..there is seemingly an endless number of ‘de-motivators’.  Consider: knee-deep bureaucracy that slows decision-making to a stand-still, incessantly long and ineffective meetings, senseless time-consuming reports that no one pays attention to, regularly ‘carrying’ non-performers on the payroll,  wrong-headed resource allocations, inadequate  training, irregular or ineffective communication from leadership, unclear or ever-changing organization priorities.  I could go on, but won’t.  You get the idea.

Perhaps it’s obvious, but the de-motivators are poison to leaders attempting to create a truly professional environment for their organization. When these de-motivators are present, ‘professional‘ is not an adjective people would use in describing their organization.  When that occurs, you’ve in trouble!

Frequently the de-motivators are connected to the structural building blocks of the organization—policies, processes, and programs.  People are smart, they’ll find ways to motivate themselves.  But people can’t always change the environment of which they are a part. In those instances where the environment needs changing, leaders must do so.  That means removing obstacles, providing essential resources, and otherwise protecting their people from the debilitating aspects of the organization’s politics.

Few leaders knowingly set out to de-motivate their people.  Yet it happens far more frequently than we know.  That’s why it’s critical for leaders to know what’s bugging their people.  Left unattended, the dark cloud surrounding de-motivated employees will eclipse whatever motivational glow that would otherwise attempt to emerge.