Why Motivating People Doesn't Work…and What Does: More Breakthroughs for Leading, Energizing, and Engaging, Second Edition

  • 3h 11m
  • Susan Fowler
  • Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • 2023

What if the answer to motivating people is to stop trying to motivate them?

The second edition of this bestseller reveals how motivation science is essential for solving the most vexing leadership issues-from hybrid work and retention to employee engagement.

Leaders face a motivation dilemma. Traditional command-and-control management styles and carrot-and-stick motivation techniques have been proven ineffective.

Motivation researcher and leadership consultant Susan Fowler expands on her groundbreaking Spectrum of Motivation model in this updated post-pandemic edition. New chapters tackle motivation science's role in managing remote and hybrid work; expose overused tactics, such as gamification and tokens; and tell the fascinating backstory behind the great resignation and quiet quitting.

Fowler's approach to leadership is fresh, pragmatic, and inspiring. But it's also empirically sound. Her framework builds on Self-Determination Theory, equipping leaders with skills to encourage choice, deepen connection, and build competence. Leaders who mastered this method have experienced breakthroughs with higher retention, lower turnover, greater acceptance of DEIJ initiatives, and a more vital, creative, and resilient workforce.

Through her experiences working with organizations and leaders around the world, Fowler reminds us that motivation is at the heart of everything people do and everything they don't do but wish they did. When managers integrate motivation science into their everyday leadership practice, an evolutionary truth emerges: people can be highly productive and flourish simultaneously.

About the Author

Susan Fowler is the founder and CEO of Mojo Moments, a company dedicated to building psychological capacity in leaders at all levels. The Mojo Moments channel partner network spans the globe to deliver empirically sound and innovative learning experiences. Fowler has more than forty years of experience in leadership and motivation as a researcher, consultant, and keynote speaker in over forty countries worldwide. She is the creator and lead developer of The Ken Blanchard Company's Self Leadership curriculum. She teaches executive leadership at the University of San Diego, and she is the author or coauthor of eight books, including the bestseller translated into fourteen languages Why Motivating People Doesn't Work . . . and What Does, Master Your Motivation, and with Ken Blanchard, the bestselling Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager.

In this Book

  • Foreword
  • Introduction
  • The Motivation Dilemma
  • What Motivates People: The Real Story
  • Shifting Out of Overdrive
  • If Motivating People Doesn’t Work . . . What Does?
  • Rethinking Leadership Now That Everything Else Has Changed
  • Leader, Heal Thyself
  • Are Your Beliefs Eroding People’s Optimal Motivation?
  • The Promise of Optimal Motivation
  • Afterword
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Resources
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