Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work--And What Does, Second Edition: More Breakthroughs for Leading, Energizing, and Engaging

＂Leaders who want to amp up employee morale should take a look.＂--Publishers Weekly

What if the answer to motivating people is to stop trying to motivate them?

The second edition of this bestseller reveals how motivation science is essential for solving the most vexing leadership issues--from hybrid work and retention to employee engagement.

Leaders face a motivation dilemma. Traditional command-and-control management styles and carrot-and-stick motivation techniques have been proven ineffective.

Motivation researcher and leadership consultant Susan Fowler expands on her groundbreaking Spectrum of Motivation model in this updated post-pandemic edition. New chapters tackle motivation science’s role in managing remote and hybrid work; expose overused tactics, such as gamification and tokens; and tell the fascinating backstory behind the great resignation and quiet quitting.

Fowler’s approach to leadership is fresh, pragmatic, and inspiring. But it’s also empirically sound. Her framework builds on Self-Determination Theory, equipping leaders with skills to encourage choice, deepen connection, and build competence. Leaders who mastered this method have experienced breakthroughs with higher retention, lower turnover, greater acceptance of DEIJ initiatives, and a more vital, creative, and resilient workforce.

Through her experiences working with organizations and leaders around the world, Fowler reminds us that motivation is at the heart of everything people do and everything they don’t do but wish they did. When managers integrate motivation science into their everyday leadership practice, an evolutionary truth emerges: people can be highly productive and flourish simultaneously.

Susan Fowler is the founder and president of Mojo Moments, a company dedicated to helping organizations foster high performance and optimal motivation. Fowler has more than thirty years of experience in the fields of leadership and motivation as a researcher, consultant, and coach in more than thirty countries around the globe. She was the creator of The Ken Blanchard Company’s Optimal Motivation product line as well as the creator and lead developer of Situational Self Leadership. Fowler teaches executive leadership at the University of San Diego, and she is the author of Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work . . . and What Does and Master Your Motivation.