- We Attempt to Motivate People – You may inspire but you cannot motivate. Motivation is internal and personal. The most common ways managers have tried to motivate others are through incentives and rewards or threat and fear. Both are counter productive. Your sales contests are a waste of time, as usually the same few people win and the others feel like losers. Threat or Fear destroys confidence in the manager and the company. So what can we do?
(SOLUTION) Lead effectively to build confidence by building the proper environment to allow the natural motivation to come out of the person. Managers need to inspire the people to believe in the company they represent, their products/services and in themselves.