ISPA CONFERENCE EDUCATION SESSION
This also underscores that motivation isn’ t an individual sport. For so long, we’ ve expected people to“ motivate themselves,” but the evidence is clear: People are more likely to be motivated when they have high-quality relationships that both reaffirm their worth and their capability. People care when they feel cared for. Motivation, like everything in a workplace, is as much relational as it is up to the individual.
PULSE: What advice would you give leaders or business owners who feel burned out themselves but still want to create an environment where others feel valued? ZM: The awareness of signals of burnout is a good first step. Notice how you’ re reacting to these signals. Are these reactions going to regenerate the energy you need to carry on or extract from it? Asking this conscious question can create space from what we’ re feeling and what we do.
Contrary to popular belief, burnout doesn’ t just come from doing too much. It comes from doing too much and feeling that no one notices, cares or is there to support us. The problem isn’ t struggling at work( work has always been hard). The problem is that more of us are struggling alone. And we were never designed to struggle alone.
One instinctual reaction to burnout is to withdraw. But that’ s the last thing we need. One of the most consistent predictors of low burnout, even in high-stress fields, is social support. Choose to look outward and seek help from people who make you feel that you matter. Continue to show others how they matter. Let your people know how you’ re doing and ask for their help.
By letting people in, you build a supportive community around you and give others the opportunity to help, which is a key way people feel they matter. Resist the urge to withdraw and choose to reach out.
PULSE: When you look across the organizations you work with— from corporate teams to government agencies— what signs tell you when a culture of significance is truly taking hold? ZM: Here are some signs: l People speak up and share ideas and process mistakes freely. l Team members frequently offer help above and beyond their job responsibilities. l Leaders work on and are evaluated on the skills to see, hear and support others. l People talk more about the work( e. g., contribution to
“ Adding value is only one part of a more fundamental human need: the need to matter. The second part is feeling valued.”
Your work with Simon Sinek PULSE: As an“ Optimist Instructor” working with Simon Sinek, what key insights from that partnership have influenced your approach to purposeful leadership and your research on meaningful work? ZM: Great leaders practice the fundamentals. A lot of people think that skills like care, presence and connection are common sense. The problem is common sense isn’ t common practice. As we’ ve increasingly relied on digital communication to connect with one another over the last 25 years, we’ ve lost the skills to demonstrate care. Simon and I both agree that we need a major human skills“ upskilling” and that we have to make common sense common practice.
PULSE: What resonates most with leaders when you and Sinek teach about purpose and mattering? Is there a particular idea or moment that tends to shift their perspective? ZM: The idea that to add value, people must first feel valued.
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