Team motivation

I used to think team motivation was something I had control over. Eventually I started to learn I can't make someone motivated about a specific topic or project.

Motivation is inherently intrinsic; it happens naturally. As a leader, you can't really motivate a person on your team directly. Most people even have a hard time motivating themselves, even when they want to.

This is why "how do I motivate my team?" usually is the wrong question to ask. When you set out to motivate your team to do X, it means there's already tension between the team and whatever you're proposing them to do.

It's just like everything else in life. We don't need to motivate ourselves for anything we enjoy doing. We only bring up motivation for things we don't naturally like to do.

So what can you actually do? Start by fixing the fundamentals of your ask and dig deep into why your team needs motivation to begin with. What is the real conflict point?

Then, embrace people's current motivations; which is why it's essential to hire individuals with the right natural energy for the job. While there are ways to influence motivation, the foundation starts with understanding.

When you notice someone isn't naturally inclined toward the work, that's not a motivation problem to fix. It's valuable information for both of you about fit and direction.

Ultimately, motivation is part of a feedback loop. You can measure and observe it, but you can't solve it directly.