In motivating people, you've got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example - and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved.

Excitement spreads faster than instructions

Most of us think motivation comes down to a simple formula: set clear goals, offer rewards, maybe add some stern words about consequences. But this misses something crucial that Norman Foster understood through decades of architecture and design. People don't really wake up and decide to care about something because you told them to. They care when they see you actually living it, working through problems with genuine curiosity, and making space for them to contribute something real.

The trick is that engaging minds and hearts aren't separate things you do in sequence. When you're excited about an idea—truly excited, not performing enthusiasm—that energy is contagious. It signals that the work matters, that there's something worth figuring out together. This matters whether you're managing a team, raising kids, or trying to get friends interested in a project. The moment people sense you're just going through motions, no amount of clever messaging saves you. But when they see you genuinely problem-solving and actually want their input, something shifts. They stop being passive and start thinking alongside you.

The quieter insight here is that this kind of motivation is demanding on the person doing the motivating. It requires you to stay genuinely curious and invested, not just competent. That's harder than giving orders, but it's also what creates environments where people do their best work.