In day-to-day work, the immediate manager has a substantial influence on how people feel. What the organisation expects is not the only decisive thing; how those demands are conveyed matters just as much. When a leader trusts their people, respects their expertise and shows basic human care, it brings out the best in them.
When the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness are met, employees become autonomously motivated. Their contribution is greater, the quality of the work is better, and their attachment to the team and the organisation is stronger. When those needs are neglected - when a manager micromanages, belittles, or lets relationships turn adversarial - the result is emotional exhaustion, falling engagement, withdrawal, and the desire to leave.
In many organisations there is still a belief that motivation is bought with salary alone. Material conditions matter, but they do not touch what actually moves people. Autonomy in the work, a sense of competence, and connection with others are the foundation of healthy, stable, durable motivation. The strength of an organisation lies precisely in the hands of its managers, who have many ways to support their people every day:
- Autonomy is strengthened through a consultative approach, involving employees in decisions, and delegating on the basis of trust.
- Competence grows when employees receive clear, constructive feedback, have the chance to share what they know, and work on genuinely challenging tasks.
- Relatedness is built through an honest, decent and predictable relationship - the kind where people know their manager is there when things are hard, and not only when everything is going well.
All of this matters more now than it ever has. The rapid introduction of AI into processes, and constant transformation, affect the daily rhythm of work. If we want people to stay, to feel secure and ready to adapt, we have to offer them psychological support. Without it, resistance to change only deepens.
In the end, leadership is always an invitation to something larger: to make things easier by being present rather than harder; to be a source of strength rather than pressure; to build teams where people feel seen, respected, and safe enough to give their best.
A good leader does not have to be perfect, but they do have to be present, fair, and willing to see the person in front of them.
That is the real strength of contemporary leadership.
