19 Best Books on Team Motivation

Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.

In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?

The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. “Officers eat last,” he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What’s symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort–even their own survival–for the good of those in their care.
    
Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a “Circle of Safety” that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

Can passion be taught? Can it be fostered? The answer is yes. But perhaps more accurately, a team leader must create the right conditions for passion to emerge. Those conditions must be nurtured, not unlike a gardener creating the right conditions for his plants to flourish. Make your job easier. Get the inside scoop on the secrets of success that motivate teams to top performance. In the matrix of workplace roles and responsibilities, managers are pivotal to corporate success. Yet a manager is often the unsung hero who must adapt to demands from all sides–and do so with little or no training, and without mentorship for the role. Learn from Dan Bobinski, who draws from 20 years of consulting experience, extensive studies of best practices, and the latest in neuroscience research. You’ll learn the principles and methods top managers use to develop passionate, engaged employees who are dedicated to success. You’ll be able to: — Motivate without manipulating — Turn mistakes into a fervent drive for quality — Equip teams to enthusiastically adapt to change — Create environments in which people strive for excellence–and more — Today’s workforce requires managers to be more than just a person in charge. Creating Passion-Driven Teams show you how to tap your team’s natural motivations and achieve consistent, sustained top performance.

Learn the essential and practical strategies to gain rock solid motivation and keep it! Are you fed up with setting your goals and not having the drive to get them? Do you find yourself making the same goals year after year, but not getting any closer than the last time? So many people find themselves in a vicious cycle of constantly trying to achieve a goal but never getting there because of the lack of motivation. It’s not that they can’t get motivated but that they haven’t found how to leverage their mind to work FOR them rather than against them! This book is unlike any other motivation book out there. Instead of giving you a long and boring book filled with all the fluff, it only contains the most practical and actionable strategies you can take away from the first chapter. In fact, this book is not meant to be finished in one sitting. Since the goal is to get you motivated and taking action, you can start with only the first section and build momentum to being a motivated machine! This book takes you through a progression of steps that can be in split up into 3 parts: what you can do today, what you can do this week, and then the long term strategies for more longer lasting motivation! Think of it as a crash course crammed full of tips and techniques you need to build the motivation required for those big goals you have! Here’s What You Will Learn… How to Get Motivated and STAY motivated How To Wake Up Energized How To “Lazy Proof” Your Life How to Find The Fuel For Your Motivation How To Create Laser Like Focus How To Leverage Yourself To Get More Results How To Prime Your Mind For Peak Performance And Much Much More… If you’re ready to start achieving your goals, then give this book a read and you won’t regret it. It’s short, it’s actionable and it can change everything. Tags: motivation book, inspirational books, productivity, unstoppable, achievement, discipline, happiness, procrastination, willpower, drive

Every day we work hard to motivate ourselves, the people we live with, the people who work for and do business with us. In this way, much of what we do can be defined as being “motivators.” From the boardroom to the living room, our role as motivators is complex, and the more we try to motivate partners and children, friends and coworkers, the clearer it becomes that the story of motivation is far more intricate and fascinating than we’ve assumed.

Payoff investigates the true nature of motivation, our partial blindness to the way it works, and how we can bridge this gap. With studies that range from Intel to a kindergarten classroom, Ariely digs deep to find the root of motivation—how it works and how we can use this knowledge to approach important choices in our own lives. Along the way, he explores intriguing questions such as: Can giving employees bonuses harm productivity? Why is trust so crucial for successful motivation? What are our misconceptions about how to value our work? How does your sense of your mortality impact your motivation?

Skip Bertman is widely respected as one of the premier coaches in all of collegiate athletics. Bertman began coaching at LSU in 1984 and transformed the Tigers into a baseball powerhouse. He guided the Tigers to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, 11 College World Series appearances, 7 SEC Championships and 5 NCAA Baseball National Championships in his 18 seasons as Head Coach. His teams also drew record-setting crowds to LSU’s Alex Box Stadium.

In this 600 page massive collection of Bertman’s best, you gain access to some of the greatest motivational and team building strategies used by the Hall of Fame coach on a consistent basis.

SKIP BERTMAN: WINNING THE BIG ONE will give you insight into:

•Striving for excellence and being at your very best

•How to overcome failure and see failure as a necessary part of success

•Acknowledging and addressing the fear factor all athletes face

•Motivating your team to play with confidence and belief

•Team building strategies that enhance your program chemistry

•Motivational stories and sheets you can use to motivate your team

Business Models for Teams helps you solve these problems. In fact, it may be the last teamwork toolkit you will ever need!

Most leaders make the mistake of over-relying on verbal and written communications. But that approach is outmoded in today’s systems-driven world. Using the same visual tools that made Business Model Generation and Business Model You so successful worldwide, Business Models for Teams lets you visually depict how any team really works — and how each person fits in.
 
The Business Models for Teams toolkit provides the missing half of teambuilding, plus a research-based engagement method that works for employees of all ages. You will discover how to fix job-description myopia and how to accurately depict where work truly gets done: in the “white space” of organization charts. Business Models for Teams imparts must-have operating acumen, whether you work in business, government, or the not-for-profit world.

Learn how to create a clear path to success with an efficient and collaborative team. Everyone has something to offer, you simply need to identify what each of your team members uniquely provides. Uncover your best qualities and imagine the goals that you can achieve with a group of equally talented individuals. No task is too big and no company is too small for a celebrated and strong team. This book is filled with team-building tips, real-life stories, and helpful quotes to begin your shared success. Share your vision and engage with your team members to create an environment that promotes and promises success!

In today’s organizations engagement is vital—more is being required of workers than ever. In this new edition of his classic book, Kenneth Thomas draws on the latest research findings to identify the key to employee engagement: intrinsic motivation. Only intrinsic rewards—rewards that come directly from the work itself—encourage the profound commitment and sense of ownership needed for a truly engaged and innovative workforce. Thomas identifies four intrinsic rewards, explains exactly how and why they build engagement and provides a diagnostic framework to evaluate which need boosting and how to boost them. The second edition has been revised and updated throughout, with an expanded section on how leaders can identify their own intrinsic rewards and new tools, tips and practices for encouraging intrinsic motivation in others.

We’ve all had experience with two dramatically different types of leaders. The first type drains intelligence, energy, and capability from the people around them and always needs to be the smartest person in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, light bulbs go off over people’s heads; ideas flow and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. These are the Multipliers. And the world needs more of them, especially now when leaders are expected to do more with less.

In this engaging and highly practical book, leadership expert Liz Wiseman explores these two leadership styles, persuasively showing how Multipliers can have a resoundingly positive and profitable effect on organizations—getting more done with fewer resources, developing and attracting talent, and cultivating new ideas and energy to drive organizational change and innovation.

In analyzing data from more than 150 leaders, Wiseman has identified five disciplines that distinguish Multipliers from Diminishers. These five disciplines are not based on innate talent; indeed, they are skills and practices that everyone can learn to use—even lifelong and recalcitrant Diminishers. Lively, real-world case studies and practical tips and techniques bring to life each of these principles, showing you how to become a Multiplier too, whether you are a new or an experienced manager. This revered classic has been updated with new examples of Multipliers, as well as two new chapters one on accidental Diminishers, and one on how to deal with Diminishers.

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you could harness all the energy and intelligence around you. Multipliers will show you how.

Find out what happens when companies stop competing and start collaborating.

Off-Centered Leadership considers an innovative approach to business by exploring what happens when companies stop competing and start collaborating ― both externally in the marketplace and internally in building a culture of communication, trust and alignment. Brimming with lessons on entrepreneurship and culture from the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, one of the fastest growing independent brewery in the country,members of his leadership team and external mentors from the worlds of business and art,  this game-changing text turns competition on its head by showcasing how competing organizations can work together―and with other local businesses―to reach a common goal. The text dives into how Dogfish Head has blazed a new trail through the development of a revolutionary business model that has called upon musicians, community organizations, and even other breweries to keep product development fresh and create engaging customer experiences.

This book documents and addresses the growing pains a company experiences as it evolves from the awkward early start up years into a mid-sized sustainable company with hundreds of co-workers. Calagione is candid in sharing his personal leadership challenges and success and calls on other seasoned vets inside and outside the company who inform and influence the journey of growth and creative expression Dogfish Head is on. This book is rich with practical information entrepreneurs and business people can apply to their own professional journeys.

Competition has long been the name of the game in the business world, but what if there was a different way to approach business? The collaboration over competition approach to business has been proven to foster positivity, productivity, and, ultimately, success. By partnering with your competition instead of trying to outsell them, you could actually create a memorable customer experience that will have people coming back for more!

Internally as well the dogfish approach has evolved and is not traditional org chart driven top down leadership. Calagione shared the challenges of evolving from a founder-driven entrepreneurial company where he was the sole creative and strategic director into a more collaborative collective where he is now one of many creative and strategic voices in the company.

• Discover the methods and approaches dogfish head has used to grow a rich diverse leadership team and evolve from a company basing decisions on the gut and whims of a founder to one with a more robust wholistic strategic approach in a way that allows them to stay creative and maintain their irreverent off-centered culture.
• Discover how ditching your competitive nature and embracing collaboration can allow you to better serve your customers
• Explore innovative solutions to the challenges that today’s businesses face
• Consider how your company can grow through the collaboration over competition business model
• Leverage the experiences of other companies to truly understand how collaboration can contribute to your businesss success

Off-Centered Leadership is a groundbreaking book that explores the power of collaboration within the business world.

If you reward your children for doing their homework, they will usually respond by getting it done. But is this the most effective method of motivation? No, says psychologist Edward L. Deci, who challenges traditional thinking and shows that this method actually works against performance. The best way to motivate people—at school, at work, or at home—is to support their sense of autonomy. Explaining the reasons why a task is important and then allowing as much personal freedom as possible in carrying out the task will stimulate interest and commitment, and is a much more effective approach than the standard system of reward and punishment. We are all inherently interested in the world, argues Deci, so why not nurture that interest in each other? Instead of asking, “How can I motivate people?” we should be asking, “How can I create the conditions within which people will motivate themselves?”

CEOs and team leaders from Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed start-ups often complain that they have trouble keeping their teams motivated. But what if it’s actually not the job of the leaders to motivate their teams? What if team members were responsible for motivating themselves and for bringing their own professional, positive, helpful, best selves to work each day? What might change in companies if teams lived up to this expectation?

In The Motivation Trap, John Hittler draws on the wisdom he has acquired from years of coaching individuals, teams, and organizations and proposes a more effective way to lead. He unwraps the energetic underpinnings of motivation, explains why it holds big limitations, and points out where and when to employ it as an effective tool in coaching management teams. He walks readers through additional tools and suggests how and when to use them to create high-achieving teams who find enjoyment in their work and are ready to take initiative and work more autonomously. His simple, easy-to-use tools will bring team members together so they can accomplish highly leveraged success. With the wisdom he provides in The Motivation Trap, Hittler helps leaders produce great results for their team members, themselves, and their organizations.

Monday Morning Leadership is a story that can help your career! Everyone likes a good story, especially if there are lessons that can be immediately applied to life. This book is one of those stories – about a manager and his mentor. It offers unique encouragement and direction that will help you become a better manager, employee, and person.

Top trainer and coach Susan Fowler urges leaders to stop trying to motivate people! It’s frustrating for everyone involved, and it just doesn’t work—not if you want a genuine commitment to excellence. Applying recent, often surprising psychological discoveries, she lays out a tested process for helping people motivate themselves in ways that not only increase productivity and engagement but also give them a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Traditional carrot-and-stick techniques may result in temporary gains, Fowler argues, but once the bribe or the threat is gone, people’s commitment flags. And these kinds of techniques make people focus more on the reward or the punishment rather than on their jobs. Her Optimal Motivation process shows leaders how to move away from dependence on external rewards and help employees discover how their jobs can meet their needs for autonomy, connection, and competence that psychology tells us result in true, long-lasting motivation. Susan Fowler’s book is the groundbreaking answer for leaders who want to “get motivation” right!

What really sets the best managers above the rest? It’s their power to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives—consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine inner work life, often unwittingly.

As Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer explain in The Progress Principle, seemingly mundane workday events can make or break employees’ inner work lives. But it’s forward momentum in meaningful work—progress—that creates the best inner work lives. Through rigorous analysis of nearly 12,000 diary entries provided by 238 employees in 7 companies, the authors explain how managers can foster progress and enhance inner work life every day.

The book shows how to remove obstacles to progress, including meaningless tasks and toxic relationships. It also explains how to activate two forces that enable progress: (1) catalysts—events that directly facilitate project work, such as clear goals and autonomy—and (2) nourishers—interpersonal events that uplift workers, including encouragement and demonstrations of respect and collegiality.

Brimming with honest examples from the companies studied, The Progress Principle equips aspiring and seasoned leaders alike with the insights they need to maximize their people’s performance.