Motivation or Absence of Demotivation?
Instead of trying to motivate people, you could start by trying not to demotivate them.
Motivating people is hard. You cannot access a “motivation centre” in their brain. It is like pulling water. As leaders, we try to motivate, but the levers are limited. What you can do is create conditions in which people find what motivates them, or limit the factors that demotivate them.
Meaning, achievement, progress, relations, autonomy, certainty, and safety are elements that support motivation. They help maintain it or prevent it from eroding. It is also important to remember that people’s personal interests can be integrated into job design or task allocation. These interests matter more than we often assume.
I recently met a leader who said she motivated people through her energy. “My positive thinking is contagious. I transfer my energy towards others.” It sounded exhausting. A positive, optimistic approach is certainly better than a dark or pessimistic one. But motivation is about the energy people themselves have, independent of yours. Your motivation is not their motivation. And if their motivation depends on you, are they still truly motivated?
Principles of Motivation
A few principles can help clarify what actually supports motivation:
- Focus on the context in which people work. Remove the factors that demotivate, and maintain, reinforce, or introduce factors that are sources of motivation.
- Look for sources of motivation that are sustainable and self-sustaining: meaningfulness, autonomy, interests, and similar elements.
- Avoid trying to motivate people through your own actions, whether positive or negative.
- Do not rely on power, pressure, punishment, or popularity as motivators.
- Money may motivate, but people adapt to it quickly. If money compensates for a lack of meaningfulness, it will never be enough.
- If someone is motivated, do not intervene. You cannot make it better. Sometimes, doing nothing is the best action.
- If you notice demotivation, explore where it comes from. Try to remove the demotivating elements.
- Change is a potential source of demotivation because it involves a sense of loss. Do not try to convince people of the gains. Invite them through the meaningfulness of the change and give them autonomy over how the change happens.
- Never forget the importance of personal interests and implicit motivation.
Motivation Emergence
Motivation is not something leaders inject into people. It is something that emerges when the environment enables it and when unnecessary obstacles are removed. Leaders influence motivation most effectively not by pushing energy into others, but by shaping a context in which motivation can grow and sustain itself.
Photo by Andrei I: https://www.pexels.com/photo/whimsical-sculptures-amidst-leafy-greenery-in-etretat-32429469/
