Last week, I sent out a pre-workshop reflection to a leadership team I’ll be working with. One team member, Samir, replied with an insightful observation:

‘One aspect I struggle to interpret — or that causes confusion — is the blurred line between importance and being motivating. Something can be of high importance but not very motivating, and vice versa.’

Samir’s right. Some tasks are important but don’t spark motivation. Others feel energising but aren’t high on the priority list. That’s the challenge of leadership – and let’s be honest, it’s the challenge of being human. Not everything that’s required of us will be motivating.

So what do we do with that?

As leaders, we each need to consider whether our roles – on balance – align with what motivates us. In the past, I’ve seen people change roles entirely after completing a motivational profile debrief. They realised too much of what their job required didn’t align with what fuels them.

I’ve also seen teams redesign how they share the work – shifting responsibilities based on what motivates each person, rather than sticking rigidly to job descriptions. When done well, that kind of alignment unlocks energy, performance, and engagement.

Of course, we can’t always delegate the demotivating stuff. But if it’s only a few things, we can learn to shift our mindset and even our motivation. That’s why I developed the self-coaching pages for leaders who want to build behavioural flexibility in their motivational patterns.

This is a rich area for exploration – and a conversation worth having with your team. What’s motivating, what’s important, and where are they aligned (or not)?

Go Fearlessly – Corrinne