Raise your hand if you want to be micromanaged.

I cannot see you, but I bet $1000 that you did not raise your hand.

Raise your hand if you don’t care if your work makes a difference.

I am confident you didn’t raise your hand this time either.

That’s because you have needs. In fact, it is one of three psychological needs for motivation. It’s called: AUTONOMY, and it may not be what you think it is.

Autonomy happens when you are in control of your individual contributions and know how your actions contribute to positive change. When leaders fail to give employees autonomy they demotivate them.

Leaders who focus on employee talents get the best from their employees because employees use their Genius G Factor. Think about how you can use talents like these to motivate your employees:

Leaders also need to let employees walk their own path.  People do better work when they do things in ways that make sense to them or inspires them. Here are a few ways leaders can make that happen:

  • be more flexible
  • explore employee ideas
  • ask the employee for solutions before recommending one
  • agree on the outcome and then let go

Finally, leaders need to recognize employee contributions openly. First, learn if your employees like public or private recognition, then look for times when they:

  • step up for the team
  • hold it together in times of uncertainty or overwhelm
  • speak up when they see something can be done better
  • take intelligent risks

Go ahead. Try it. Give your employees more autonomy. See what happens.