I had an interesting conversation with a client this week.
He was frustrated because one of his longest-serving team members just didn’t seem to have the same drive anymore.
The initiative had gone.
The energy wasn’t there.
He’d become… transactional.
You know the sort of thing.
Do what’s asked.
Do it reasonably well.
Nothing more.
His instinct was the same as most business owners.
“How do I motivate him again?”
But the more we talked, the less I thought motivation was the real issue.
The business had changed significantly over the previous few months. New structure. New priorities. Plenty of pressure. Like most founders, he’d put his head down and got on with steering the business through it.
What had quietly disappeared was the conversation.
The team no longer really knew where the business was heading. The regular one-on-ones had slipped. People were getting on with their jobs, but they weren’t really part of the journey anymore.
It made me think about something I see surprisingly often.
When leaders become transactional with their team, the team almost always becomes transactional in return.
Not deliberately.
Not maliciously.
It’s simply human nature.
If people stop feeling connected to the bigger picture, they naturally narrow their focus to the bit immediately in front of them.
That’s why I don’t think motivation is something you can create.
I think it’s something you preserve.
The best leaders don’t just communicate the vision, values and roadmap once.
They repeat it.
They explain why it matters.
They help people understand where they fit and how their contribution moves the business forward.
Without that, even good people can drift.
That’s why, before assuming someone has “lost their motivation”, I’d encourage you to ask a different question.
Have they really disengaged… or have they simply stopped feeling connected to where the business is going?
Sometimes the issue isn’t the individual.
Sometimes it’s the silence that’s grown around them.
That was certainly true in this week’s coaching conversation.
And thankfully, it’s a much easier problem to solve than replacing a good person who’s simply lost sight of the bigger picture and their place within it.
If you're working through something similar in your own business, I'd be interested to hear how you're approaching it. Hit reply, or click below for a Free Growth Strategy Session:
PS: If you want your team to feel more connected, this 10-minute video explains one of the simplest leadership habits that keeps people engaged. Well worth a watch. 👉"How Great Leaders Inspire Action" by Simon Sinek
