What genuinely drives people, and how to create it.
A session on what genuinely motivates people at work, grounded in the research on intrinsic motivation. It explores what leaders typically get wrong, what the three core drivers actually are, and what specific changes make the most difference.
Most leaders believe they need to motivate their teams, and most reach for the most intuitive tools: incentives, recognition, encouragement. The research is clear that these approaches work in the short term for routine tasks, but for complex, relational, or creative work, they often produce the opposite of the intended effect.
Sustained motivation depends on three fundamental needs being met: autonomy (a genuine sense of control over how you work), mastery (the experience of getting better at something that matters), and purpose (feeling that your work connects to something beyond the immediate task). The session introduces these three drivers clearly, then examines them through the lens of leadership. What does it look like when a leader gives their team genuine autonomy? How do leaders create conditions for mastery? And how do they make purpose feel real rather than abstract?
Participants spend the second half of the session examining their own teams: where are the conditions for motivation strong, and where are they quietly eroding? The session closes with an honest self-assessment and a specific commitment to one or two things each leader will do differently.
You will leave with a clearer understanding of what drives motivation in the people around you, and at least one specific and practical change you can commit to making as a leader.
Open by drawing on people's own experience of being motivated and demotivated, introduce autonomy, mastery, and purpose, then have each person reflect on their team and commit to one specific change. Keep pulling the conversation back to the specific.
Put two questions on the board: think of a time when you were genuinely motivated at work, and what made that possible; and think of a time you were demotivated, and what caused it. Give pairs three minutes each, then take a brief share-back. Establish from the outset that motivation is not a fixed personality trait, since the same person in different conditions will perform very differently.
Give a short input introducing autonomy, mastery, and purpose, drawing on Daniel Pink's synthesis of the research on intrinsic motivation. Autonomy means people perform better when they have genuine control over how they approach their work, and micromanagement reduces performance regardless of intent. Mastery means people are driven by the experience of getting better at something that matters to them, so environments that support learning sustain motivation and ones that stagnate drain it. Purpose means feeling that your work connects to something beyond the immediate task, which is one of the most powerful and durable drivers. The key point: leaders do not motivate people directly, they create or destroy the conditions in which motivation grows or diminishes.
Ask people to reflect individually on their own team using three questions. On autonomy: where does your team have genuine control over their work, where do they not, and is that the right balance? On mastery: what opportunities exist in their day-to-day work to develop and improve, and what opportunities are missing? On purpose: do the people in your team know why their work matters, and is the connection clear and specific, or vague? Then have pairs share what they noticed and where motivation is most at risk in their team right now.
Open a discussion: what is one specific thing you could change in how you lead that would improve the conditions for motivation for at least one person in your team? Push towards specificity, since 'I will give this person more control over how they approach that task' is far more useful than 'I will increase autonomy.' Have pairs share their commitment and invite two or three to share with the room. People often move to the general quickly, so keep pulling the conversation back to the specific with a question like: what does that look like in practice, with a real person in your team?
Use Motivating and Engaging Teams when conventional incentives are failing to produce engagement and a leader wants to understand what genuinely drives people. The session grounds the three intrinsic drivers in the research, then each leader commits to one specific change in their own team.
Using this tool with a skilled facilitator means that discussions are focused, time is used efficiently, and the group moves toward consensus, making the session productive and impactful.
