Why Your Team’s Not Motivated (And Why It Might Be Your Fault)

Your team’s not lazy.
They’re just not motivated—and it might be your fault.
I’ve coached brilliant leaders stuck in this trap.
They grind harder, push more—and get less in return.
Why? Because they’re missing the one thing that turns grit into lasting results.

Leadership without balance gets stuck in loops.
Either too soft to steer…
Or too hard to move.

“Feel like you’re going in circles?”
That’s the question I posed at a recent training—right beside two spinning rowboats.
One powered by Grit.
The other by Grace.
Both stuck.

The Hard-Driving Leaders I Coach

In my coaching work, I often meet technically brilliant leaders—top of their field, relentless work ethic, impeccable standards. The kind of people you want on your team… until you have to work under them.

Let me tell you about two of them (anonymized for obvious reasons):

Leader 1: The Operator

This person was promoted to lead an entire division because of their past performance. They built a high-value unit from scratch. They knew the numbers. They knew the tech. They delivered.

But when it came time to lead people, they relied on pain and pressure to motivate. Guilt. Shame. Ego.
The same high standards that made them effective as an individual contributor disconnected them from their team.

They didn’t create the space for others to grow.
Didn’t build a clear path for mastery.
Didn’t foster autonomy.

They didn’t mean to burn people out—but the burnout came.
And eventually? The results suffered, too.

Then, the leadership team organized a mutiny with the company directors. That's when I was called.

Leader 2: The Enforcer

This leader had a background in the military—trained to be hard-edged, direct, and outcome-focused. He took that energy into the boardroom.

And at first? He was brought in because of that approach. He was the fix-it guy.
But instead of leading through others, he did everything himself. He couldn’t trust. He wouldn’t delegate. And when he finally did give responsibility, he led with fear.

He’d call his team "soft" or "not smart enough"—not because they were, but because he couldn't slow down long enough to coach or connect.
His results dipped. His team disengaged. And his job went into jeopardy.

His transformation started with a scorecard.
A simple tool that helped him build internal motivation—first in himself, then in others.

Why This Happens (and How Self-Determination Theory Explains It)

Self-Determination Theory says that people thrive when they experience three things:

But most gritty leaders don’t build these in others—because they’re too busy driving results.
They lead with extrinsic motivation:

And yes—it works. For a while.
But it’s not sustainable.

Self-Determination Theory aND Motivation (Without the Academic Mumbo Jumbo)

There are four main levels of external motivation (from weakest to strongest):

Many high-pressure environments rely too heavily on #1 and #2, and miss out on the power of #3 and #4.
As a leader, your job is to move people up this ladder.

And to be fair? In places like construction, engineering, aerospace, or military—you need some of that.
Sometimes safety’s on the line. Deadlines matter. Lives are at stake.
You need clear direction. You need expectations.

But when leaders stop at compliance and shame, they drain energy.
They burn out. Their people burn out.
And eventually, nobody wants to follow them anymore.

Grit and Grace: The Balance You Need

This is where the Grit & Grace model comes in.

• Grit is about using the right extrinsic tools—performance management, accountability, and challenge.
• Grace is about cultivating intrinsic motivation—autonomy, mastery, and connection.

Too much grit and you lead with fear.
Too much grace and you lose clarity, accountability, and momentum.

You need both.

A Personal Example from Rowing

My old rowing coach, Mike Spracklen, was a master technician.
He was gritty to the core. He drove us hard. And his crews won medals. A doctoral thesis was written by Veronical Planella, attempting to qualify the successful recipe he brought to create high-performance environments.

But he wasn’t perfect. He also left a wake of emotional chaos behind him. Some athletes thrived under his leadership. Others withered.

That’s the tension in high-performance leadership.
If you lead with only grit, you’ll get short-term wins and long-term problems.
If you lead with only grace, you’ll build trust but miss targets.

The sweet spot?
Task excellence + transformational leadership.

Or, as I like to say:
Get the boat moving—and make sure the crew wants to row.

Final Thought

If your team’s stalling, your leadership might be spinning.

Ask yourself:

You don’t have to choose one.

The best leaders use both.

If you want world-class results, build a culture that balances performance with purpose.

This Blog is part of a three-part series:

Why Your Team’s Not Motivated (And Why It Might Be Your Fault)

How to Lead with Grit and Grace — The Motivation Sweet Spot For High Performance Teams

How to Engineer Motivation: Your Leadership Toolkit

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Adam Kreek founded ViDA to positively impact organizational cultures and leaders who make things happen.

Kreek is an Executive Business Coach who lives in Victoria, BC, near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Seattle, Washington, USA, in the Pacific Northwest. He works with clients globally, often travelling to California in the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Georgia, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist, a storied adventurer and a father.

He authored the bestselling business book, The Responsibility Ethic: 12 Strategies Exceptional People Use to Do the Work and Make Success Happen. 

Discover our thoughts on Values here.

Want to increase your leadership achievement? Learn more about ViDA Executive Business Coaching here.

Want to book a keynote that leaves a lasting impact? Learn more about Kreek’s live event service here.

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