How Do I Keep My People Motivated?
/It’s a question I hear from tech leaders, especially when they or their teams feel overwhelmed, uncertain, or disconnected:
How do I keep my people motivated when I’m not even sure what’s next?
It’s tempting to look for a quick fix. A new incentive. A clever shift in communication. A fresh meeting format.
But truly effective leadership doesn’t start with tactics. It starts with your ability to pause, reflect, and create clarity, even when things feel murky. It starts when you take a step back and consider how to answer this question completely and responsively to your organization.
If that’s where you are, here’s a thought process you can follow.
1. Get Unstressed
When you’re concerned about your team, it’s easy to spiral into frustration or judgment or fear. But you’ve probably already discovered that showing up with a frazzled or reactive mindset didn’t lead to the best results.
You’re capable of clear, creative thinking. So access it.
Before you try to fix anything, give yourself a moment to reset. Step back from your thoughts. Quiet the noise. In whatever is your way of re-centering—go for a walk, meditate, journal, listen to music—make space for calm, compassion, and curiosity.
Ask yourself: What might I see differently if I weren’t reacting from frustration or pressure?
2. Clarify what’s really going on
Is it your motivation issue, or theirs, or both? Is it truly a motivation issue, or is it confusion, burnout, fear, misalignment, lack of trust, or something else?
Often, the real challenge is that you don’t yet know what’s next, and it’s hard to guide or inspire others when you’re feeling unclear yourself. That’s okay. The job now is to explore.
Dig deep. Consider many perspectives, including for example your own and others’ mental and physical health, physical environment, and what’s happening in life outside of work.
In addition to your thoughts and perspective, seek input. Talk to people across your organization—your team, your peers, even mentors or folks outside your company. Look for patterns. Surface assumptions. Name what’s bothering you and them.
Ask yourself: What is the real problem I'm trying to solve?
3. Define the kind of approach you’re looking for
Before jumping to solutions, step back and reflect: What values you want your answers to reflect, and what you believe about how people grow, connect, and thrive.
This is where you actualize your leadership philosophy. If you value autonomy, how can your approach honor that? If your culture emphasizes experimentation, what would that look like in a motivation framework?
Ask yourself: How do I want people to experience my leadership, especially when times are tough?
4. Build a motivational approach that evolves with your team
You’re creating a leadership practice for motivating your team. You’re creating an environment where people feel connected, supported, and energized to contribute. The best practices aren’t rigid; they’re living frameworks designed to shift as you and your people (and the context) change. And they work best when they’re co-created, not handed down.
Even though you bring so much to the table—your experience, your care for the team—remember that leading a team isn’t about always having the answers.
Be co-creative and open and generate multiple ideas before whittling them down to be practical and responsive. Start with a working hypothesis. Test it. Talk about it. Invite feedback. Adjust to what you learn. Then implement the practice. Don’t wait until it’s “perfect” because it’s going to evolve. Make sure the practice is designed to be continuously improved.
Ask yourself: How can I make motivating my team a shared, ongoing practice?
A tip
It’s easy to say that you will do all this well when you are leading from a place of positive energy: confidence, intention, and resilience.
But that’s not always easy to access, especially when the pressure and the stakes are high.
If the real problem is your own motivation, or you’re feeling stuck or unsure how to move forward with motivating your team or any other challenge you might be facing, you don’t have to figure it out alone.
In a free Exploratory Session, I can help you explore what’s holding you back and help you decide whether coaching is the right support for you.
