I hear a lot of managers worry about how to motivate people. I don’t think you can motivate people… people create their own motivation. But you can de-motivate people and unfortunately, too many managers do.

Here are some of the de-motivators I see:

• Certificates, awards, ceremonies, and other forced fun
• Relentless deadlines
• Micromanagement
• Withholding information
• Not making time to meet with people individually on a regular basis
• Taking a one-up position
• Ranking
• Carrying poor performers
• Treating people as “resources”
• Dictating rather than including
• Blaming team/system problems on individuals
• Saying one thing and doing another

When managers stop de-motivating, people find their own intrinsic motivation. Here’s an HBR article that outlines actions to create a motivating environment. I’ve also written a bunch about management action to create a motivating environment. Some of those articles are posted on this blog.