It’s Tuesday morning. You’re sitting in your office staring at a team that used to have energy. The same people who once stayed late because they wanted to now clock out at 4:59 like they’re escaping a burning building. Projects that used to get done in a week now drag on for three. And here you are, Googling “how to motivate employees” at 7 AM, wondering what went wrong.
I’ve seen this movie play out dozens of times. A leader notices the spark is gone and immediately starts reaching for motivational tools — bonuses, team lunches, inspirational quotes on the break room wall. And none of it sticks. You know why? Because they’re treating the symptom, not the sickness.
Here’s what I’ve learned after Coaching over 4,500 leaders across 19 industries: if you’re worried about motivation, the first question you should ask isn’t “how do I motivate my team?” It’s “how is my culture?”
Think about it this way. A thermometer tells you the temperature, but it can’t change it. A thermostat sets the temperature and then the whole system responds.
Motivation is a thermometer. It tells you what’s going on inside your team — energy is high, energy is low, people are engaged or they’re not. But motivation by itself doesn’t change anything. Culture is the thermostat. It sets the conditions that everything else responds to.
When you walk into a building and it’s freezing, you don’t yell at the thermometer. You adjust the thermostat. But I watch leaders do the workplace equivalent of yelling at the thermometer every single day. They see low motivation and start throwing pizza parties and pep talks at the problem. Meanwhile, the thermostat — the culture — is set to “miserable” and nobody’s touching it.
Here’s the thing: most leaders don’t think they have a culture problem. They think they have a people problem. “My team just isn’t driven.” “Nobody takes ownership.” “I can’t find good people anymore.”
But when I sit down with those teams — and I’ve done this more times than I can count — the story is almost always the same. The people are capable. They want to do good work. But the environment is working against them.
A broken culture shows up in quiet, sneaky ways. It’s the meeting where nobody speaks up because last time someone did, they got shut down. It’s the unwritten rule that if you leave before the boss, you’re not a team player. It’s the manager who takes credit for the win and passes blame for the loss. It’s decisions being made behind closed doors and then dropped on people like surprises.
None of that shows up on a company values poster. But every person on that team feels it in their bones. And over time, it grinds down even the most motivated people. It’s like trying to run a marathon in shoes that are two sizes too small. You might push through for a mile or two on sheer willpower, but eventually you’re going to stop — not because you’re lazy, but because the conditions are punishing you for trying.
Now flip the script. I’ve walked into organizations where you can feel the difference within five minutes. People talk to each other — not just about work, but like actual human beings. Ideas get shared without fear. Mistakes get treated as learning moments, not career-ending events. Leaders are visible, approachable, and honest about what they don’t know.
And here’s what’s remarkable: in those environments, nobody is sitting around worrying about motivation. It’s not even a conversation. Because when people feel safe, respected, and connected to something bigger than their job description, motivation happens on its own. It’s the natural byproduct.
Think of it like a garden. You don’t motivate a tomato plant to grow. You give it good soil, sunlight, water, and room to stretch. The growing takes care of itself. But put that same plant in rocky soil with no light? You can talk to it all day long. You can play it music. It’s not going to thrive — not because there’s something wrong with the plant, but because the conditions won’t allow it.
Culture is the soil your team grows in. And as a leader, you’re the one responsible for the quality of that soil.
So here’s the question most leaders don’t want to ask: what am I doing — or not doing — that’s shaping this culture?
Because culture isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something that flows from you. Every decision you make, every behavior you tolerate, every time you walk past a problem without addressing it — that becomes part of the culture. Your team is watching you more closely than you think. They’re not listening to your speeches about teamwork. They’re watching what you do when things get hard.
I’ve seen leaders who talk about “open door policies” but roll their eyes when someone actually walks through that door. I’ve seen leaders who say they value work-life balance but send emails at midnight and expect replies. The team doesn’t hear the words. They see the behavior. And the behavior is the culture.
Here’s what nobody tells you: you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be honest. The leaders I’ve worked with who build the strongest cultures aren’t the ones who never make mistakes. They’re the ones who own their mistakes, ask for feedback, and genuinely care about the people around them. That’s servant leadership in its most practical form — not being soft, not being a pushover, but being a leader who puts the Growth and well-being of their people at the center of how they operate.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Okay, Doug, my culture might need some work — where do I start?” — good. That honesty is the first step.
You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight. Start with three things:
Ask more than you tell. In your next team meeting, ask your people what’s getting in their way. Then actually listen. Don’t defend, don’t explain — just listen. You’ll learn more in that ten minutes than in a month of assumption-making.
Make it safe to speak up. The next time someone brings you a problem or disagrees with your approach, thank them publicly. I mean it. Say, “I appreciate you raising that.” You do that enough times, and people start to trust that it’s actually safe to be honest. That single behavior can shift a culture faster than any initiative HR rolls out.
Be consistent. Culture isn’t built in grand gestures. It’s built in the small, repeated moments — how you show up on a bad day, how you treat the newest person on the team, whether your actions match your words on a random Wednesday afternoon.
If motivation on your team is low, resist the urge to reach for a quick fix. Instead, take an honest look at the culture you’ve built — or the one you’ve allowed to build itself. Because a healthy culture doesn’t just improve motivation. It improves retention, creativity, collaboration, and the kind of results that actually move a business forward.
You set the thermostat. What temperature is your team living in?
If you’re wrestling with this — if you know something’s off with your team but you’re not sure where to start — that’s exactly the kind of challenge I help leaders work through. I’d Love to have a conversation about it.
Book a Free Discovery Call and let’s figure out what’s really going on — and what to do about it.
For more practical leadership insights, visit dougthorpe.com or tune into the Leadership Powered by Common Sense® podcast.
The post Stop Trying to Motivate Your Team — Fix Your Culture Instead first appeared on Servant Leadership Coaching | Practical Leadership Development | Doug Thorpe.
