Let’s be clear. Motivation is nothing more than finding ways to get other people to do what you want; what, in many cases, they’re paid to do anyway. It isn’t mysterious. It’s not some obscure, magic art. People do what they feel they ought to do — just as long as they are clear about what that is. They work with enthusiasm at what means something to them. So if they aren’t clear about what they ought to be doing — and they don’t feel it means much to them anyway — they either won’t do it at all, or won’t do it with any enthusiasm.

That’s the trouble with macho, “grab-and-go” management: it fails to motivate because it doesn’t create meaning or provide real clarity about the tasks people must undertake.

Most new managers — and many experienced ones too — feel concerned how best to “motivate” their staff. It ought to be simple to get help. Nearly every consultant and business coach claims some expertise in the topic. Yet somehow people stay uncertain. I don’t think it’s just the difficulty of the subject — though any skill related to dealing with other people is never straightforward. I believe the problem is inherent in the obscurity of the buzzword “motivation” itself.

Using buzzwords brings obscurity, not clarity

Buzzwords block our ability to think and communicate clearly, so people are left confused and frustrated. The buzzword “motivation” is a prime example. Though it sounds precise, it has that typical characteristic of all buzzwords: a vague cluster of meanings lumped within a single word. My dictionary defines is as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” You can’t get much vaguer than that.

Suppose you need to motivate someone. What will you have to do? What skills will you need? Broadly — and vaguely — the answer seems simple: you need to affect “the desire or willingness of someone to do something.” You want that person to carry out some action at your request, and do it willingly and with full attention. But once you begin to ask how to achieve this, the obscurity of the term “motivate” blocks your progress.

Suppose you replace the buzzword “motivate” with a specific term? The task becomes clear at once:

• How do I influence…?
• How do I persuade…?
• How do I convince…?
• How do I encourage…?
• How do I ask…?
• How do I explain…?

The list could go on and on, each word signaling both the action you’re considering and the skill you’ll need. The question: “How do I motivate…?” covers them all.

The first step in getting others to do things is making sure they’re clear about what it is. And the first step in making that happen is to be clear in your own mind what you are about to undertake.

Meaning is essential to enthusiasm

Fine. Let’s suppose you’re clear about what you need to do and the other person (or people) are clear about what you expect from them. That’s essential, but not sufficient if you are looking for enthusiasm, rather than compliance. For people to tackle work with enthusiasm, it has to mean something to them.

What gives work meaning? An outcome that people value; a set of results that they agree is important, not just to some abstraction like corporate profits and progress, but to themselves and what they believe in; achieving something that makes them feel good, because it’s inherently valuable, like making others happy or creating something worthwhile to society at large.

If you want proof, look at teachers, nurses, and many other helping professions. They are rarely the best paid jobs; they often demand unsocial hours and facing tough, emotionally-draining situations; and they are subject to continual legal and political pressures and interference. Yet people still do these jobs — often with amazing enthusiasm and determination — although they could almost certainly earn more money elsewhere, with fewer problems, and less stress. Why? Because they believe passionately in what they do. It matters to them — a lot. It has real meaning.

Why macho management struggles with motivation

Firstly, macho organizations rarely take the time needed to explain clearly to their employees what needs to be done and why. They fall back on generalities and buzzwords. They assume that what matters to the bosses and shareholders (principally profits) also matters to employees — though they rarely share in them to the same extent. Instead of slowing down, explaining, and answering questions, they drive people with threats and all kinds of pressure — some of it far from subtle.

They don’t create meaning either. Instead, they assume that employees can be bribed with money or coerced with fears. But carrot and stick are no substitute for work you can truly believe in; nor is a quarterly profit figure something employees can really feel proud about — especially if they suspect it’s been “massaged” for the sake of Wall Street.

Of course, some corporations can’t offer meaning because what they do has none, beyond making profits for executives and shareholders. Some can’t indicate the real meaning of what they do, because it would more likely produce embarrassment and revulsion than enthusiasm. And most simply don’t think about it, relying instead on abstractions like “creating value” or “being the market leader.”

Abstractions don’t motivate, because they have no human element

Who cares if you’re the “market leader?” How does that stack up against curing the sick or helping children have a better life?

You don’t have to be in a helping profession to create meaning though. Meaning can come from providing fine products, carefully made; from giving kind, helpful, and genuinely caring customer service; from making a difference in a locality by providing good jobs and staying loyal to those who fill them. Outsourcing jobs overseas to cut costs destroys meaning because it says that the corporation is more interested in money than the people thrown out of work. Producing shoddy products destroys meaning because it destroys any sense of pride in making them. Giving lousy service to increase profits — or cutting corners and hiding ethically dubious actions — destroys meaning because it makes people feel uneasy about being associated with a business that cannot display its actions openly.

Without meaning, there can be no motivation, save for the limited kind linked to simply needing the money. Instead of a vocation or a calling, work becomes just a job — to be given as little energy and commitment as the person can get away with.

Until we get rid of macho management, and replace it with the kind of leadership that includes caring for human values as much — preferably more — than money, motivation will go on being a problem. And that’s regardless of how many books, articles, training courses, videos, and words are devoted to it.

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