Entrepreneurs
5 Lessons Social Entrepreneurship Teaches Us About Motivation

What comes to mind when you hear “accountability” or “motivation?” For many, these words conjure the image of a coach or an accountability partner “cracking the whip” so they’d finish certain tasks – even when they’re dragging their behinds and aren’t inspired by the project at all.
No wonder people are sitting on the couch and complaining that they lack motivation. The problem isn’t that there’s something inherently wrong with them. They may just be going about it the wrong way.
What if there’s a better way to get motivated? What if we can take control and create motivation through our actions? What if we can get ourselves motivated by setting up the right conditions?
If you go beyond “accountability” and do meaningful work that inspires you everyday, wouldn’t you feel more driven? When you hear stories about successful entrepreneurs, you often get a sense of “inevitability” – they’re doing what they do not because of external circumstances but because of intrinsic drives.
They’re doing the work not because someone is cracking the whip. They’re driven to take meaningful actions everyday because something deeper is driving their actions and decisions. How can you set up the conditions so taking action becomes inevitable? How do you create meaningful work so you feel inspired and driven everyday?
Social entrepreneurship offers us many insights into how business, motivation and meaningful work come together to create successful enterprises. Successful social entrepreneurs are motivated by the impact and meaning they create through their businesses.
Here are 5 lessons on motivation we can learn from social entrepreneurs who build profitable ventures driven by their desires to make a difference in the world:
1. Set Intentional Goals
You’ve heard many times that you need to set clear goals. Unfortunately, many people focus too much on arbitrary metrics to measure success without fully considering whether those numbers are in alignment with what truly drives them.
To get motivated, you need to set goals with intention. Then track metrics that reflect the impact you want to achieve. You may have to challenge conventional wisdoms to set your own bar. You may have to devise innovative ways to measure success.
If you don’t find meaning behind the numbers, the sense of achievement becomes temporary. You can easily end up on the hamster wheel. The grind can wear you down and leave you feeling fatigue and unmotivated. On the other hand, achieving metrics that speak to a meaningful goal gives you the long-term positive feedback that’ll keep you motivated day-in-day-out.
2. Anchor In a Community
You can fuel your motivation by giving meaning to your venture within a larger context. Rachel Brathen’s 109 World is built on a global community of yoga enthusiasts, while Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Bank transformed the economy of many third world communities through micro financing.
Instead of being product- or service-focused, turn your attention to the community you aim to serve and find a match between the needs of the market and your vision, skills, expertise or product idea.
You’ll gain inspiration to fuel your actions by listening to and interacting with your community. Such dialogues give you continual and meaningful input that helps you evolve in a meaningful direction.
When your business creates products and services relevant to your community, you get the positive feedback that’ll further motivate you to grow.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa
3. Give Meaning To Commercial Success
Meaningful venture and commercial success aren’t mutually exclusive. Blake Mycoskie’s TOMS Shoes and Gavin Armstrong’s Lucky Iron Fish are both profitable businesses born out of and still closely tied to a social cause.
These social enterprises are doing more good by using profits from a commercially successful venture to fuel a cause that motivates them. Putting meaning behind profit gives social entrepreneurs the positive feedback that encourages them to do more good because it’s an evidence of their impact.
More often than not, many social entrepreneurs gain clarity on what truly motivates them when they’re not constrained by funding. Such motivation can be more powerful than any financial factor.
4. Get Inspired By Real Live Experience
Many social entrepreneurs find the calling that motivates them to succeed after eye-opening travel experiences that cracked open their worlds and broadened their perspectives.
Scott Harrison of charity: water built his non-profit after a life-changing trip to West Africa. You don’t have to go to some remote, poverty-stricken countries to find your calling. You can discover more opportunities in your backyard than you’d ever imagine if you tune in, stay open, get involved and be relevant.
Look for motivation and find out what makes you tick by interacting with people and communities you care about. Understand their needs and map your skills and expertise to solving a problem that’ll make a difference in their lives.
Often times there’s no substitute for getting boots on the ground and find out how you can make an impact through participation and trial-and-error.
5. Tap Into Your Strength
Understanding and applying your strength makes you effective. Instead of trying to be perfect in everything, do work that taps into your strength and you’ll find more passion in what you do.
When you focus your strength on high value activities toward a meaningful goal, you’ve a much better chance of creating successful results that gives you the positive feedback to further motivate you.
Success fuels confidence, and this confidence will keep you motivated to do what matters.
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places” – Ernest Hemingway
How are you going to find your motivation by setting the stage for meaningful actions? Leave a comment below!
Entrepreneurs
The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025
Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”
While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.
Why This Gap Exists
Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.
What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.
Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap
Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.
1. Practice Mutual Empathy
Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.
2. Maintain Professional Boundaries
Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.
3. Follow the Golden Rule
Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.
4. Avoid Micromanagement
Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.
5. Empower Employees to Grow
Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.
6. Communicate in All Directions
Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.
7. Overcome Insecurities
Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.
8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship
True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.
9. Eliminate Favoritism
Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.
10. Recognize Efforts Promptly
Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.
11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews
When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.
12. Provide Leadership Development
Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.
13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles
Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.
The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role
Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:
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Build diverse talent pipelines
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Embrace flexible work models
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Design compelling career paths
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Simplify HR processes
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Redefine the value HR brings
The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.
Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff
When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.
Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.
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