To be Inspired or Motivated.That is the question.

In a recent Seth Godin Blog post, he presents the doing more vs doing better dilemma.

The easiest form of management is to encourage or demand that people do more. The other translation of this phrase is to go faster.
The most important and difficult form of management (verging on leadership) is to encourage people to do better.
Better is trickier than more because people have trouble visualizing themselves doing better. It requires education and coaching and patience to create a team of people who are better.

I agree with this to some degree, and I also believe there are alternatives that can create “better teams” without companies investing so much into education & coaching.

My belief is that people will happily take it upon themselves to learn, upskill and generally better themselves, without interference or financial investment from the employer, if they are in an environment that fosters personal development values. In other words, if they are inspired.

I often make the point that motivating people doesn’t go a long way. If you want to create a lasting shift in your staff’s behavior, the word you want is “Inspiration” and not “Motivation”.

Seth’s Blog hints to this in the comment “most important and difficult form of management (verging on leadership) is to encourage people” because managers tell & demand, great managers encourage, and true leaders inspire.


If you think back over your life, you’ll find that the turning points in your life, the significant paradigm shifts came from those who inspired you. Whether they coached you or not, they, by being who they are, inspired you to take action. Some of you may even make the parallel to previous jobs. I would bet that the best bosses you have ever had were the hands-off type who went out of their way to “be” better people and in doing so inspired you to do the same.

By the way, I’m not saying this style will work on everybody. Some people are simply uninspired and they would struggle to find direction in an environment that is simply inspiring. They would lag behind if not TOLD what to do… which is perfect, because this will help you cull the dead weight holding your business down.

Bottom line… stop MANAGing, and start LEADing. And if you can afford it, provide coaching, mentoring, education & development opportunities for your staff.