The Heart of Leadership

Motivating Others

Russell E. Palmer

Leaders must understand the context in which they are leading if they are to be effective. But it’s possible for a leader to understand the context without knowing how to motive the team members in that context. If you can’t motivate your team, you won’t be effective no matter how well you may intellectually understand the context of your organization.

Human nature being what it is, people generally respond well to the same kind of treatment no matter what the context. Perhaps surprisingly, I have found that most of what motivates workers are non-rational incentives, so I devote the greatest part of this essay to discussing these motivators.

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