What drives our motivation? The answer isn’t universal; different generations, personalities, and life stages can bring different drivers to work.
When we observe behaviour we’re not happy with, like missed deadlines, low engagement, resistance to change, we often fall back on our own biases about “what motivates people.” We assume we know what’s wrong and what will fix it.This assumption gap stifles motivation and grows misalignment.
As a leader with a vision to execute, you need your A-team firing on all cylinders. But when you misread what motivates your talented staff, you create the very problems you’re trying to avoid: disengagement leads to project delays, misunderstandings breed conflict, and unchecked assumptions poison team culture.
The quality of your togetherness depends on truly understanding what drives each person, not what you think should drive them.
Application: Here is a clarification process that I recommend to check assumptions: (Do this process in person or online with the people that are affected.)
- Notice the behaviour – Be specific about what you’re observing
- Name your concern – Be truthful about how it’s affecting you or the team
- Stay curious – Keep asking questions about how they perceive the situation
- Listen for their motivation – What matters to them? What barriers do they see? What solutions do they suggest?
- Find common ground – Align their drivers with your vision.
A local council team I recently worked with discovered that staying curious opened a path to finding common ground and increasing understanding. When leaders stopped assuming and started asking, motivation returned.
What assumptions might you be making about your team’s motivation today?
#Leadership #TeamMotivation #FacilitativeLeadership #HighPerformingTeams #Togetherness