BY ROWENA CROSBIE, president, Tero International

What motivates you to do a good job? Have you found that you are more productive when you are motivated? What about when you don’t want to tackle a project? What happens to your productivity?

We have all seen examples of highly motivated people who outperform individuals with greater technical ability. We all want to be the type of leader who creates a motivating environment.

So how do leaders motivate people?

A common approach is to use rewards and incentives. While there is certainly a place for these external motivators, they rarely deliver long-term results. 

To make a long-term impact, leaders need to tap internal motivation. Inner motivation is in play when you WANT TO do something, without expecting a reward. Thanks to advances in neuroscience, we now know a lot about what’s going on in our brain when we’re motivated. 

Tero’s theme this month is human motivation. We encourage you to read the excellent research-based article by Tero research consultant Dr. Harwant Khush, titled  Neuroscience Insights to Motivate Employees.

If you are a leader wanting to create an environment that fosters internal motivation, be sure to register for Tero’s one-day Tapping Internal Motivation and the Art of Delegation workshop.

Rowena Crosbie View Bio