10 ways to kill motivation as a manager

2022-05-11 by Luca Dellanna

Ask your people to do things, then do not check whether they did them.
Ask your people to do things more carefully, then punish them for being slow.
Do not explain your decisions. Let your team think you didn’t have valid reasons.
When someone shows motivation, do not give them opportunities to put it to use.
When choosing goals, be conservative. This way, even if your people achieve them, there won’t be enough windfall to reward them.
When someone does something good, wait a few days before acknowledging them. Make them wonder whether their efforts went to waste.
When someone notices a problem, make it their problem. Make them work overtime to solve it. They will learn to keep their mouth shut next time.
When someone underperforms, do not let them know until the yearly performance review. Let them believe they’re on track for a raise until it’s too late.
When delegating a task, do not check in with them early. If they misunderstood something, let them spend effort in the wrong direction before letting them know.
When delegating a task, only reveal part of your requirements. Then, when they deliver on them, be disappointed because they didn’t deliver on the rest of your requirements.