#119: Motivation at work
Every work day, many employees suffer a lot of friction because many managers believe in the fiction that you can motivate someone to work. You cannot. It is simply not possible to motivate another person to do something.
Yes, it is possible to ‘get’ someone to do something, whether through physical force or the fear of consequences. But this ‘getting to do’ is not the same as ‘wanting to do’ out of free will.
Motivation is an internal desire, not an external force; it is the inner will to do. The most you can manage is to convince others to do something, to fan their desire to do. The rest is up to them.
Without the desire to do even self-motivation is impossible. Leaders know this and so seek to convince and inspire. But many managers still don’t get it and so they rely on the power of the hierarchy to control and subdue.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com
Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
Yes, it is possible to ‘get’ someone to do something, whether through physical force or the fear of consequences. But this ‘getting to do’ is not the same as ‘wanting to do’ out of free will.
Motivation is an internal desire, not an external force; it is the inner will to do. The most you can manage is to convince others to do something, to fan their desire to do. The rest is up to them.
Without the desire to do even self-motivation is impossible. Leaders know this and so seek to convince and inspire. But many managers still don’t get it and so they rely on the power of the hierarchy to control and subdue.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com
Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
posted by James Henry McIntosh at
7:20 AM
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