Goals Demotivate Your Team

As humans, we seek purpose and meaning from our work. In his book ‘Drive’, Daniel Pink states that workers are motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose in their work. And, that money is only a motivator if people have autonomy over the entire work process. In any other situation, money is a performance demotivator.

So why, as leaders, do so many of us insist our teams work to arbitrary revenue targets?

In this episode, we’re exploring the shift that happens when leaders create a culture and use language that drives behaviors that are focused on the strategy and direct impact of their actions rather than metrics alone. 

Perry Maughmer believes the world deserves better leadership; that in every human interaction there is the opportunity to either build others up or tear them down; and that leadership is the choice we make in those moments.

These beliefs led Perry to create the Potential Leader Lab. He wanted to offer those who share his beliefs the space and safety to explore transformative ideas, experiment with new behaviors, and evolve into the leaders they were meant to be and that the world needs.

This is a framework he has used again and again with his Vistage peer advisory groups and companies like Turn-Key Tunneling, Convergint, Haughn &  Associates, I Am Boundless, Ketchum & Walton, LSP Technologies, and Ahlum & Arbor.

Perry lives and works on the shores of Buckeye Lake in Ohio, in the mountains of northwest Georgia, and on the beach in Anna Maria, Florida with his amazingly creative wife Lisa. They have 2 rescue dogs and are intermittently visited by their 3 wonderful children throughout the year. Perry & Lisa are living life in crescendo and focused on exploring, experimenting, and evolving their vision of a life they have no desire to retire from.

Copyright 2025 Perry Maughmer