So much productivity is lost in businesses because the people who are hired to do the work are not motivated or even worse are demotivated to give their best effort. Have you seen this in your organization?

What is the root cause of this lack of motivation? In some cases it’s because people are afraid to take risks. They worry about the consequences of their actions; in many cases they fear repercussion from their boss. However, in increasingly more organizations, the lack of motivation stems from a lack of leadership from within.

Too often people are put into management positions based on their work or performance, and not based on whether they have the ability to lead the team effectively. In some cases they don’t want to work in a management position, but feel it’s a necessary step in the career progress.

In his article Bridging the Management Gap, author Jeff Shuck gives a great overview of the problems in management today, including a compelling infographic on the state of American management. After discussing the bad side of management—including a statistic stating that for 75% of workers their boss is the most stressful part of their job—he gets into the postive side of how you hire the best people. Look for passion, dedication and accountability. He concludes the article with some powerful ideas on how to lead from the middle.

While it’s not an easy thing for anyone, motivating your teams (and yourself) is critical to the success of your organization. As you work to increase the enthusiasm of the people you work with, keep in mind that as a team leader or manager you need to confront the major anxiety of the people you lead and motivate them to give their best.

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The Product Management Perspective: One of the key aspects of the role of product manager is to motivate the people you work with. In this role, you have the opportunity to work closely with many people in the organization and make a big difference in how people see their roles. Work hard to inspire people and your products will benefit.