John Stanko

“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering" - Luke 11:52.

In today's verse, Jesus rebuked the leaders because they were being harsh on themselves and then on the people, actually demotivating followers from pursuing the highest good. Leaders must pay attention to the level of motivation in their workplace. This can be a challenge because followers and team members are motivated by a variety of things and leaders should work to provide an atmosphere where those motivations can flourish so people can do their best work. Leaders can watch what followers do (or avoid doing) and listen to what followers say to find out what motivates them, and then work to remove obstacles to those motivations so people can flourish in their position.

LEADERSHIP STEP: Are you demotivating your workers or peers? Take some time today to find out. Distribute an anonymous survey for people to return to you, asking them what they need from you to do their best work. Ask them to freely describe anything in your company—policies, relationships, budgets, communications, recognition practices—that demotivates them. When they do, don't tell them they should not feel that way; simply remove those de-motivators!s!