You can’t motivate people, but you can help people learn to motivate themselves. This second edition includes new material on inspiring self-motivation in remote workers and a distributed workforce.

What if the answer to motivating people is to stop trying to motivate them?
 
Leadership researcher, consultant, and coach Susan Fowler says that overtly trying to motivate your employees can be frustrating for everyone involved and doesn’t work in the long term. You can’t force people to be motivated—but you can help them find the inner commitment that increases productivity and engagement and gives them a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment.
 
The second edition of this bestseller includes a new chapter on remote and hybrid work as well as updated content on postpandemic management, DEIJ initiatives, and the Great Resignation. Fowler uses the Self-Determination Theory to show the positive effects of optimal motivation on people’s vitality, productivity, and creativity and lays out a tested model and course of action for leaders. In addition, she includes compelling examples and anecdotal evidence from applying her techniques in organizations and with individuals worldwide.
 
Fowler shows leaders how to get out of the way and encourage their people to self-motivate and foster personal excellence.
 

Susan Fowler is the founder and president of Mojo Moments, a company dedicated to helping organizations foster high performance and optimal motivation. Fowler has more than thirty years of experience in the fields of leadership and motivation as a researcher, consultant, and coach in more than thirty countries around the globe. She was the creator of The Ken Blanchard Company’s Optimal Motivation product line as well as the creator and lead developer of Situational Self Leadership. Fowler teaches executive leadership at the University of San Diego, and she is the author of Why Motivating People Doesn't Work . . . and What Does and Master Your Motivation.

Contents
Foreword by Garry Ridge 
Introduction: Stop Beating Your People with Carrots 
1. The Motivation Dilemma 
2. What Motivates People: The Real Story 
3. Shifting Out of Overdrive 
4. If Motivating People Doesn’t Work… What Does? 
5. Rethinking Leadership Now That Everything Else Has Changed 
6. Leader, Heal Thyself 
7. Are Your Beliefs Eroding People’s Optimal Motivation? 
8. The Promise of Optimal Motivation® 
Afterword by Ken Blanchard