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Proof that procrastinating is bad for your health
Procrastination is more than a symptom of bad time management. You might not be surprised that procrastination is linked to depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and reduced life satisfaction. But a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s (JAMA) online network in January 2023 relates procrastinating with severe mental health problems, disabling …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: January 25, 2023

Strategies to experience a positive difference in the new year
If you’re exhausted heading into the new year, join the crowd. Ask most people what’s to blame for their depleted energy, physically and mentally, and they point to one major category of ills: profound change. This is where I ask you to depart from the crowd. Change isn’t the culprit zapping your energy — …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: January 9, 2023

How leadership language can drive employees nuts
You might consider me a member of the correctness police. Your disdain might be justified, for I know my advocacy for certain ideas can come off as over-the-top. I may drive my team nuts, for example, when I ask them to eliminate the term “drive” from their vocabulary. To be fair, I only request …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: October 26, 2022

Gamification: Before you play, know what experts say
A high-level manager from a Fortune 500 company created a game based on one of my motivation books and reached out for feedback. I love games and wanted to support her efforts. But we ran into an early roadblock when I asked her the game’s purpose. She stated her intention: I want to teach …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: September 22, 2022

How companies can help employees avoid the “Great Regret”
This headline caught my attention: The Great Resignation turns to the Great Regret as worker needs are not being met, expert says. Suddenly venerable business sites are reporting on the Great Regret and its cousin that’s gone viral, the Quiet Quitting. McKinsey & Company claims the Great Attrition has become the Great Renegotiation. But no matter how many trendy names we assign …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: August 24, 2022

Are rewards ever appropriate?
I’m a fierce opponent of the reward culture permeating today’s organizations. I rail at the idea of motivating people by throwing monetary rewards, tokens, badges, trips, prizes and incentives at them. When speaking or training, I come armed and ready with scientific proof for the answer to the inevitable question: Are rewards ever appropriate? But …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: July 27, 2022

Is Motivation Science the Answer to Leading a Hybrid Workforce?
The pushback was swift against WeWork CEO’s bold claim that only the “least engaged” people want to continue working from home. Sandeep Mathrani had an ulterior motive for people not to work from home and instead rent office space from WeWork, which he acknowledged in an apology of sorts. For me, his statement was …
BY: Susan Fowler
PUBLISHED: May 26, 2021
Events

Foster the Future Leadership Summit
9 December 2021
Virtual
Susan Fowler will be joining Jai Cole and Tom Rath for Fairfax County Park Authority’s Foster the Future Leadership Summit, happening Thursday, December 9th to speak about how the skill of #motivation is essential for building resilience, embracing change, and ensuring psychological safety—a topic that’s never been more relevant than it is today.

From Crisis to Capable by ESOP
14 October 2021
Virtual
Ken Blanchard and Susan Fowler joined the exciting event, hosted by ESOP, about how your organization can help clients build the skills needed to move from crisis to capable

RE-Coding HR pre-conference for Blanchard Israel
26 October 2021
Zoom / Israel time
Susan Fowler will be presenting Rethinking Leadership Development alongside Rares Manolescu at the RE-Coding HR pre-conference for Blanchard Israel who will be talking about how to promote OptimalMotivation in the workplace.
Resources

ARTICLE: Three Scientific Truths to Experience a Motivation Breakthrough
Susan Fowler
2019
Berrett-Koehler Publishers hosts Susan Fowler’s article about the struggle to stop a bad habit (like procrastinating on submitting your expense reports) or start a good habit (like clearing out your emails every day)?

PODCAST: GRACE under pressure: John Baldoni with Susan Fowler
John Baldoni & Susan Fowler
2021
On his GRACE under pressure LinkedIn Live Interview show, John Baldoni talks with Susan Fowler about how she shares her message on optimal motivation, self leadership, and thriving together in all 50 states and over 40 countries. Now, with her latest book, Master Your Motivation: Three Scientific Truths for Achieving Your Goals, Susan is on a mission to help individuals master their own motivation, achieve their goals, and flourish as they succeed.
Thanks to this bestseller, translated into more than over a dozen languages, thousands of managers worldwide have learned how to activate their staff members’ optimal motivation. www.susanfowler.com

ARTICLE: HR.com : Leading The Transition: Deciphering Lessons Learned
Susan Fowler
2021
You and your team are exhausted. You’re grappling with how to accommodate 73% of workers reporting they want a hybrid work option. You’re coping with mass resignations and labor shortages as 40% of employees plan or hope to change jobs when given the opportunity. You’re struggling for the best way to handle DE&I issues, put out fires, prepare for an uncertain future, and still achieve expected outcomes.
If a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, you have an unprecedented opportunity to take advantage of lessons learned from the pandemic. But how do you translate and apply those lessons?
Susan Morgan Bailey, Marsh & McLennan Agency Culture & Wellbeing Practice Leader, for discussions with executives and practitioners as they break down the art and science of building successful organizations

PODCAST: THE GROWTH COLLECTIVE: Resiliency Series: Motivation Science and Thriving Through a Pandemic
Susan Morgan Bailey & Susan Fowler
2020
Susan Morgan Bailey, Marsh & McLennan Agency Culture & Wellbeing Practice Leader discuss with executives and practitioners as they break down the art and science of building successful organizations. As a guest in this episode, Susan Fowler talks about how one of the reasons a crisis is a crisis is because it threatens the three psychological needs required to thrive. Mastering your motivation enables you to create choice, connection, and competence—and rise above real and imagined threats posed by the COVID-19.

ARTICLE: Your Assumptions About ‘Motivation’ Could Be Surprisingly Wrong
Rodger Dean Duncan
2019
As a contributor to Forbes, Rodger Dean Duncan asks What really motivates people? Money? Time off? Recognition? Personal esteem? A feeling of being needed? This whole notion of “motivation” deserves a fresh look, he says. He explores the answers with Susan Fowler in his piece published on forbes.com