A leader argues that motivational speeches fail when employees face operational roadblocks. Only 16% say their bosses consistently remove obstacles, yet 31% of their drive depends on it. Ask your team what frustrated them in the past month, pick the easiest fix, and solve it fast.
You can't inspire a frustrated employee. Leaders pour money into motivation and stirring speeches. Meanwhile, their employee gets conflicting assignments from 3 different bosses and waits on a spreadsheet another department just won't send. In one of our studies, only 16% of employees said their leader always removes their roadblocks. And 31% of an employee's inspiration to give their best effort is driven by whether their boss removes those roadblocks. Nearly a third. So ask each employee, in the past 30 days, what are some frustrating roadblocks you've experienced? Unclear direction from me, inefficient meetings, a lack of resources, something broken, whatever. Then pick the easiest one and fix it fast. A small roadblock fixed this week beats a big one fixed 6 months down the road. And some roadblocks will turn out to be you. Those are actually the best ones to find because you can fix your own behavior today No budget required.
