“Can you feel the sun on your skin?”
That is the first line of a phone call.
Not a “good morning”, not a “how are you?“.
Just a blunt question, half ironic, half suspicious: “Are you out of the house already? Have you hit the ground running?“
It is the boss speaking. On the other end of the line, a 25-year-old sales representative, fresh from a promotion in a large multinational. Filled with expectations and ambition, he suddenly finds himself immersed in a reality of relentless performance and daily pressure. Two weeks later, he was already browsing job offers on LinkedIn.
“You just can’t breathe“, he recounts.
“Work has become a stage. Every day an exam, every mistake a verdict. Nobody asks how I am doing. They only look at the numbers. They push you to the limit and call it workplace motivation.”
Workplace motivation and leadership models
This story resonates with us. It resonates because it is not an isolated case. It reflects a wider system, a cultural legacy.
It brings back an image that encapsulates a model of workplace motivation built on constant pressure to perform, which shaped an entire generation of professionals in the 1980s:
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.”
A powerful motto. A symbol of endurance, speed, adaptation. Many of today’s managers grew up within that model: endure, perform, never show fatigue.
And often, it was precisely that environment that shaped them into business leaders. Because of this, when faced with stories like this young professional’s, the temptation is to downplay it: “That’s just how work is. You need thick skin.”
Humanity in business: the new motivation paradigm
Yet these young professionals are our children; we brought them up with new values, with a different sensibility. We call it fragility, but perhaps it is simply humanity in the workplace.
We know they do not want less responsibility.
They want more coherence. They want to integrate who they are with what they do. They want trust, not just control. Space, not just pressure. Genuine listening, not just judgement.
And that is the real managerial challenge today: reading the context, evolving one’s style, changing the narrative. Not to “play nice”, but to achieve longer-lasting, sustainable and shared results.
The leadership challenge for sustainable motivation
Because the point is not to abandon the goal, but to choose how we get there.
Are we asking ourselves the right questions as managers?
Is the language we use still effective?
Are we creating environments that foster courage, nurturing true workplace motivation, or merely endurance?
Do we know how to evaluate without undermining, how to challenge without overwhelming?
Those who lead also need a new kind of managerial space.
Management development programmes: the key to
lasting workplace motivation
A space to:
- reflect
- refresh one’s style
- evolve without feeling at fault
This is why we design tailored management development programmes for business leaders.
Management training that does not point fingers, but supports. That does not question the role, but strengthens it.
The very care we call for towards younger generations is equally needed by those who lead.
Managers, you are not the problem. You remain the key to shaping the future.
Conclusion
What do you think? Have you experienced something similar? Are you looking for a new way to lead your team?
✉ Write to us at comunicazione@hermesconsulting.com or visit our Executive Coaching page to discover how we can support your team’s growth.
We are here to listen to your story. And, if you wish, to share it.
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