Unlocking Motivation by Removing Obstacles

A note to young leaders.
The other day I was having dinner with an aspiring young leader.

He said: “I only want to work with people who are highly motivated.” “All people are highly motivated”, I replied.
That raised his eyebrows. So I continued:
“We are all born highly motivated. It’s our natural state. If we are not
motivated, it’s because something is obstructing our motivation. Your job as leader is to figure out what the obstacle is, and to remove it.”
People become demotivated if they don’t dig the vision or values of your company (they need to find another company); the role they are in doesn’t play to their natural strengths (they need to find another role); they are being micro-managed (you need to coach the manager) or the company’s culture saps them of energy (you need to change the culture).
But your role as leader is never to motivate your team. People are born motivated.
Your role as leader is to ensure that nothing (including you) is demotivating them.