Me ha gustado mucho el artículo aparecido en Management Issues. Para muestra, un par de párrafos:
For example, gardeners don’t make plants grow. The genetic coding inside each plant does that. A gardener simply creates conditions that are conducive for plants to grow: if those conditions are maintained, then growth occurs.
In the same way that we can’t make a seed grow, a manager cannot motivate people. The word motivation literally means “a reason to move.” Since everyone has a reason to move, everyone already has motivation.
Muy buena la metáfora.
Efectivamente no se puede motivar a la gente, pero se pueden crear las condiciones para que la gente se motive … o para que la gente se desmotive.