# motivation
34 moments across 33 episodes. Click any moment to jump straight to that part of the episode.
28:34Round 4: What keeps employees from quitting?Al Elliott: Oh, are you passing it? Danny Wareham: I'm passing it Al Elliott: Oh, Leigh, you've been dropped in the shitEP 326 · 11 Aug 2026·interview· 28:34–30:3443:36Workplace Surgery: Motivating quiet teams during slow periodsLeanne Elliott: Definitely. And that's a good idea as well, isn't it? To keep it, to test it. And try all these things or give people flexibility. It's not that everyone has to get a free gym or everyone gets a cleaning EP 320 · 21 Jul 2026·workplace surgery· 43:36–48:3816:16Finance burnout: Is money really the motivator?Leanne Elliott: Ooh Al Elliott: Number 2 is that they are struggling because 95% of them say they are burnt out to some degree, and 3 quarters have actually thought about walking away from work because of it. Number 3, iEP 316 · 7 Jul 2026·news roundup· 16:16–18:5938:25How much passion is enough?Al Elliott: Can I ask you, what's your thoughts on starting a business that you've got no passion about, but you just think, well, I'll start it, I'll systematize it, and then it'll make me money and I can go and do my pEP 301 · 14 May 2026·interview· 38:25–39:4319:41Truth or Lie — Is money the best motivator?Leanne Elliott: So come back Al Elliott: I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Welcome back to Truth or Lie. That's the time of the week where we take a popular workplace idea and ask if the research actually backs it up. NorEP 290 · 7 Apr 2026·truth or lie· 19:41–45:2022:06Contributing for purpose, not for a paycheckTom LeNoble: This is a great question because I never stopped contributing. It just shifted from contributing for a paycheck to contributing through service, which is a huge part of my life today. You know, I was very siEP 281 · 5 Mar 2026·interview· 22:06–28:0145:12Workplace Surgery: The vanishing sparkAl Elliott: Yeah, agreed. Okay. Question number 2, where did their spark go? I manage a team of 12, and until recently, a few of them were absolute superstars. Proactive, full of ideas, always one step ahead. Now they'reEP 280 · 3 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 45:12–49:1820:00Story 3: Why the last stretch feels hardestAl Elliott: There's an idea Leanne Elliott: There's an idea Al Elliott: Leigh, what else have you seen, my love?EP 278 · 24 Feb 2026·news roundup· 20:00–28:3939:02Workplace Surgery: Motivating a team nearing retirementLeanne Elliott: Is it a true? Sounding very, very Yorkshire, that. Is it a true? Al Elliott: If you've got a question you want me to put to Leanne, then check out the show notes and send us over. We're always interested,EP 270 · 27 Jan 2026·workplace surgery· 39:02–44:4119:58Truth or Lie of the Year: Maslow's HierarchyLeanne Elliott: Yeah Al Elliott: But really cheap. So what we did was we said, you can order whatever you want, but you have to also buy one bottle of this, what's called Lambrini. It was a 5-litre bottle of Lambrini. ItEP 260 · 23 Dec 2025·truth or lie· 19:58–23:5844:37Are there people who just enjoy being difficult?Aoife O'Brien: That's such a good question. And I'm trying to think. I certainly have known people. And I'm trying to think, what is that driver? What's that unmet need that that person has? Was their family life difficuEP 255 · 4 Dec 2025·interview· 44:37–47:0622:21Truth or Lie: Is Maslow's hierarchy a myth?Leanne Elliott: So come back Al Elliott: I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Welcome back. It is time for Truth or Lie. Here's our new jingle. Is it a truth? Is it a lie? Is it a truth? Truth is a lie Leanne Elliott: I've nEP 240 · 14 Oct 2025·truth or lie· 22:21–30:024:23Why Patrick started his 52-week experimentLeanne Elliott: So, this experiment feels like a bit of a pivot then from what your normal work is. So, tell us a bit more about it, where the idea come from and your motivation for wanting to try it Patrick Fagan: Yeah,EP 227 · 28 Aug 2025·interview· 4:23–7:187:20The personal tragedy that set Steve on his missionSteve Roest: It's a really, really good question. I think from a young age, From the point at which my dad's stroke happened, my mum became his sort of default carer. I mean, he was in hospital for a really long time andEP 213 · 10 Jul 2025·interview· 7:20–13:0446:18Workplace Surgery: Question 2 - Motivating a disengaged teamLeanne Elliott: What a great question Al Elliott: Brilliant question. These are great. Do you know what? I'm loving the questions at the moment Leanne Elliott: Yeah, we're getting some really good ones in. My first thougEP 202 · 3 Jun 2025·workplace surgery· 46:18–51:4549:02Workplace Surgery: The 'I've stopped caring' slumpAl Elliott: Yes, she will. Okay, so question number 3, is it normal to stop caring when your company doesn't value you? Oh, hi, Al and Leanne. Oh, hello. Julian Hayes II: Hi, honey. Al Elliott: I don't think anyone's eveEP 200 · 27 May 2025·workplace surgery· 49:02–56:4942:03Workplace Surgery: I hate working — is that bad?Leanne Elliott: How well do you know this person? Al Elliott: Yeah, maybe they're a little bit of a What do they, what do the kids call them now? Snakes Leanne Elliott: YeahEP 190 · 22 Apr 2025·workplace surgery· 42:03–49:2613:54What really motivates people in a crisis?Leanne Elliott: Well, speaking of, um, of a large nation causing global instability, um, there has been a bit of a pickle the last 10 days or so. Not going to talk about it, um, but global recession is a word that's beenEP 188 · 15 Apr 2025·news roundup· 13:54–17:4619:43Retention, applications, and the real motivatorLeanne Elliott: How have you found this shift has impacted things like your retention, the number of applications you get when you advertise a job in terms of talent? Has it, has it helped you retain and attract talent? EP 183 · 27 Mar 2025·interview· 19:43–22:3848:57The impact of positive leadershipLeanne Elliott: And as you say, it's that environment that turns that negative fear into motivation. And as you say, that sense of urgency, and I think this is the power, isn't it, of psychology, of human behavior, of grEP 179 · 13 Mar 2025·interview· 48:57–50:1743:22Workplace Surgery: Reigniting your top performersLeanne Elliott: What else you got, Al? Who else did we get letters from this week? Al Elliott: Well, here we go. My best performers are turning into robots. How do I bring back their spark? So this person writes, as a maEP 166 · 28 Jan 2025·workplace surgery· 43:22–48:1215:22Why "why" matters before "how"James Fleming: So the first you've got to think about is why does it matter? So you've got to understand why. So why do I want to learn to present? What's the outcome? So once you understand why, then you need to understEP 165 · 23 Jan 2025·interview· 15:22–24:4344:51Why New Year's resolutions don't work and where to find JamesLeanne Elliott: If somebody is listening, they're probably going, got all these great things they want to do in 2025, they've set these goals. What would you say to them? Any message, any lessons, key lessons from motivaEP 165 · 23 Jan 2025·outro· 44:51–51:221:52What motivates older workers?Leanne Elliott: So this week I saw a really interesting study into exactly this— what motivates older workers. And to give some context to this, because you might be thinking, why should we care? Well, in the UK right noEP 152 · 10 Dec 2024·news roundup· 1:52–7:2542:43Workplace Surgery: Boosting Engagement in a Non-ProfitLeanne Elliott: This is tricky and one that I'm actually reading more and more about recently, other business owners who are experiencing a similar scenario. The, the, the challenge is, yes, we're going to derive meaningEP 132 · 1 Oct 2024·workplace surgery· 42:43–51:0933:43Running toward vs. running awayAl Elliott: Yeah Nathan Cornwell: That there's that sort of sense of pressure your family might put on you or your friends. They might think, oh, if he's come back too early, he's sort of failed at that experience. So thEP 118 · 25 Jul 2024·interview· 33:43–39:5746:42The SPACE model and individual motivatorsAl Elliott: So let's talk about this rewards center very briefly here then, How do I know what each of my employees or teams, how do I know what tickles their pickle? How do I know what's going to make them happy? HilaryEP 116 · 20 Jul 2024·interview· 46:42–52:0920:03Workplace Surgery: motivating stagnant teamsAl Elliott: It can Leanne Elliott: But come back Al Elliott: Yeah, come back. Definitely come back because Nudge isn't as good as this. So come back. Cut that out. Keep that in. So welcome back. This is the segment of thEP 97 · 14 May 2024·workplace surgery· 20:03–27:2710:54What employees really want: purpose over paycheckDave Kline: They want to know the work they're doing has impact. They typically want to grow and develop really fast. They want to contribute meaningfully. They want to be super efficient, right? If they can get their haEP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 10:54–13:5533:40Ayelet Fishbach and the science of motivationAl Elliott: If you've ever sat in a large meeting and been bored shitless, or you've sat down with a group of people to work on a problem, you probably instinctively know that the way that you behave in a group is very dEP 75 · 25 Jan 2024·interview· 33:40–36:356:09What drives a champion mindset?Al Elliott: But before we get into all of that, I wanted to really get into the mindset of each of our guests. I wanted to find out what made them want to compete. How do the sports differ? I know that Shauna's done indiEP 65 · 17 Nov 2023·other· 6:09–10:2853:38Vision, values and goals — what drives each generationAl Elliott: I think first and foremost, this has been my experience, that I find a connection to vision, values, and goals. To be something that I hold to the utmost regard. Um, I have previously been with Lululemon as aEP 35 · 19 Apr 2023·other· 53:38–57:266:11The exact moment Leanne decided to pursue psychologyAl Elliott: So why did you become a business psychologist? What's the story behind this? Leanne Elliott: I can remember the exact moment that I decided I wanted to pursue psychology, not necessarily business psychology, EP 17 · 20 Dec 2022·other· 6:11–8:0333:43Where the drive to go again came fromLeanne Elliott: You mentioned there that you were kind of looking at the American philosophy and, and starting to, to look at kind of the positives behind bankruptcy. Was that— where did that drive come from to try and sEP 16 · 13 Dec 2022·other· 33:43–36:39
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