I am the creator of Motivational Maps, a diagnostic tool that describes, measures, and monitors motivation, and which is used by over 1,400 coaches and consultants in 16 countries. The tool is available in 12 languages, including Mandarin.
Over 30 years, I have trained and coached thousands of people from well over two hundred organizations. As a result of this, I have written 5 books, the Mapping Motivation series, on motivation for one of the world’s top academic publishers, Routledge, and a sixth one is scheduled for 2026. I have a First-Class Honours degree and a postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies (with Distinction).
Mapping Motivation defines and measures motivation from individual, team, and, critically, organisational perspectives. It introduces key concepts and their role…
This book is a really powerful summation of much contemporary research on motivation, but it picks out what is truly crucial to help you in the workplace. It should be no surprise to learn, as Pink says, that “We find that financial incentives ... can result in a negative impact on overall performance", but it is nevertheless.
The style of writing is pacy and exciting, as befits a New York bestseller, and I also like this because its model closely approximates to the research that I think is truly compelling, but which is not universally accepted: namely, that there are nine motivators in the human psyche.
The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things,…
This book is the exact opposite of my first choice: a not-so-easy read by an Oxford academic and a truly weighty tome!
But, for those who love detail, detail, detail, this is a wonderful read: exhaustive, comprehensive, and challenging: take his citation – “brain activity is what determines behavior, and so the only behavioral problem becomes that of accounting for inactivity”. Wow, with our current numbers of unemployed in the UK, isn’t that challenging?
How does motivation work? The classic answer is that people are motivated to approach pleasure and avoid pain, that they are motivated by "carrots and sticks." But to understand human motivation, it is necessary to go beyond pleasure and pain. What people want is to be effective in their life pursuits, and there are three distinct ways that people want to be effective. They want to be effective in having desired results (value), which includes having pleasure but is not limited to pleasure. They want to be effective in managing what happens (control) and in establishing what's real (truth), even…
Gifts from a Challenging Childhood
by
Jan Bergstrom,
Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…
John Adair was an ex-military guy who wrote brilliantly on leadership and time management, and this book is no exception: understanding what motivates people is crucial for leaders, and in Leadership and Motivation, John Adair re-frames the topic in terms of his Action-Centred Leadership model.
His insights are anchored in the Fifty-Fifty Rule, which asserts that half of an individual’s motivation comes from within, and half from their environment, particularly the leadership they experience.
The book’s core is Adair’s Eight Key Principles for motivating others, including: be self-motivated; recruit self-motivated individuals; treat people as individuals; set achievable challenges; recognise progress as motivating; create a motivating workplace; ensure fair rewards; and offer recognition.
John Adair has transformed our understanding of how leadership works with his pioneering book Not Bosses But Leaders. Here he explores the nature of motivation, individual needs and how they relate to the key tasks facing leaders and managers - good, positive motivation can create, maintain and improve the performance of any team.
In Leadership and Motivation John Adair also puts forward his own theory of motivation - the fifty-fifty rule - and then identifies the eight key principles for motivating others.
Motivation increases efficiency and productivity - and makes reaching targets more likely. Leadership and Motivation will stimulate your…
Here is a book that strongly focuses on self-motivation, not team or organisational motivation. It’s highly practical and useful, giving 36 drivers of successful motivation with cautionary information to help you avoid falling into delusions.
For example, the first driver is “visionary thinking,’ but of course we can all imagine we are practising visionary thinking when in fact what we are indulging in is ‘idle dreaming.’
The book includes, along the way, loads of wonderful snippets of wisdom from profound thinkers: e.g., “You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you are doing small things, so that the small things go in the right direction.” – Alvin Toffler.
Self motivation does not come easily to many people, and it is often easier to put things off, choose the easy option, or indulge in self doubt.
With this audio adaptation of Gael Lindenfield's Self Motivation you will discover the secrets of motivating yourself including:
revelling in success without fear of failure * thinking like a visionary without idle dreaming * thirsting for challenge without scorning the easy options
Plus tips on encouraging and motivating other people such as employees and children.
Gifts from a Challenging Childhood
by
Jan Bergstrom,
Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…
This book really completes the cycle of motivational targets: if the last book was about the individual, this one drills down further to students at school and university.
We often think young people don’t need motivation because they are young – they should have it, shouldn’t they? Covid 19, I think, has revealed very clearly the opposite. Here we have a clear, step-by-step guide including topics like what motivation is, why it’s important to have it, how to develop enthusiasm, how to set and achieve goals, how to improve your memory and concentration, and more besides.
Finally, this is all geared around being successful at college, and so its importance cannot be overemphasized.
Mapping Motivation defines and measures motivation from individual, team, and, critically, organisational perspectives. It introduces key concepts and their role in performance, productivity, team building, appraisal, leadership, engagement, and change management. Motivation is central to all successful people development initiatives. Based on ten years of research, James created Motivational Maps, the only accurate tool to describe, measure, monitor, and maximise motivation and performance. This easy, online questionnaire takes just 12 minutes and is accessible to readers.
Mapping Motivation is the definitive book on motivation, its language and metrics, written by its creator. It offers knowledge, insight, and practical tips for leaders, managers, HR specialists, trainers, coaches, and consultants who seek to improve people development and productivity in a dynamic way.
