What Really Motivates YOU? The answer is rarely what we first say.
After 30 years of leading, mentoring, and coaching high performers, I’ve learned that true motivation often lives beneath the surface…
People might say it’s about money, but dig deeper and you find freedom, family, security, identity.
They might talk about recognition, but often it’s a need to be seen, valued, or to prove something they once doubted about themselves.
💡 I’ve worked in places where motivation was presented like a formula:
💷 Target + Bonus = Drive.
But it rarely works like that, at least, not sustainably.
Quoting big numbers and declaring ‘we’re here to smash it!’ might energise a few.
But for others? It lands as noise, or worse, total disconnect — especially if they haven’t had a pay rise, or feel unseen until they resign.
⚖️ Motivation is personal, nuanced, sometimes silent.
And the most effective leaders know that.
The most committed, engaged, and high-performing teams I’ve led were never just driven by money.
They were driven by meaning, and by leaders who took the time to understand what mattered to them.
📊 Research backs this up: the top three workplace motivators aren’t financial:
1️⃣ A sense of purpose
2️⃣ Feeling valued
3️⃣ Opportunities to grow
And that’s where the magic happens.
That’s where performance shifts from compliance to commitment.
As I take on new projects and explore the right permanent role, I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with people who’ve helped me learn this.
Great people who’ve shown me, in quiet and loud ways, how to lead with humanity.
🧭 I always try to find out what drives the individual before I speak about delivery.
I always watch the quietest person in the room.
Because silence often speaks the loudest.
🤝 People. 🔄 Process. 🧠 Integrity.
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