#548 Motivation: When Leadership Follows Myths Instead of Science
Motivation: When Leadership Follows Myths Instead of Science
A high-level article based on the leadership podcast and videocast by Niels Brabandt
Why motivation fails when leaders choose slogans over evidence
In this week’s leadership podcast and videocast, Niels Brabandt examines a recurring failure in modern management: the tendency to explain complex organisational problems through heroic slogans, nostalgic myths, and untested motivational claims. The episode starts with a deceptively simple question. Are people really unmotivated, or are leaders using the wrong assumptions about motivation in the first place? Brabandt argues that the answer matters because motivation is not created by louder speeches, harder rhetoric, or borrowed quotes that collapse under scrutiny. It is created through evidence, credible leadership behaviour, tangible benefits, and a serious understanding of what people need in order to perform sustainably.
The football metaphor and the leadership mistake behind it
Brabandt uses the public reaction to Germany’s football defeat against Paraguay as a case study in poor reasoning. The loss itself belongs to sport. Yet the public interpretation quickly moved beyond football and became a wider commentary on national decline, lost hunger, insufficient toughness, and allegedly weakening work ethics. His argument is not about sport. It is about leadership culture. When executives and commentators convert a sports result into a diagnosis of national or organisational character, they often reveal less about performance and more about their own preference for oversimplified explanations.
The danger of the unverified quote
A central example in the episode is the frequently circulated statement that hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. Brabandt points out that the quote is often misattributed to figures such as Plato or Socrates, although its traceable origin is not ancient philosophy but modern post-apocalyptic fiction. The leadership lesson is direct: when leaders use quotations as authority, they must verify the source, the context, and the relevance. Otherwise, they are not motivating people. They are placing personal ego above professional responsibility.
From pseudo-wisdom to pseudo-leadership
The episode is especially relevant for decision-makers because Brabandt links poor source discipline to a broader leadership problem. Organisations often accept emotionally attractive statements because they sound forceful, decisive, or familiar. Yet a statement that sounds strong is not automatically true. A quote that sounds ancient is not automatically wise. A message that sounds motivational is not automatically motivating. In Brabandt’s analysis, leaders lose credibility when they present unverified claims as evidence. Once credibility is damaged, employees become less willing to follow even sensible initiatives.
The sick-note debate as a management case study
Brabandt then connects this problem to policy and organisational decision-making. He discusses the debate around telephone-based sick notes in Germany and references his interview on the German channel with Professor Dr Volker Nürnberg, described in the episode as a leading expert on absenteeism research. The core number presented by Brabandt is striking: only 4% of sick notes are issued by telephone. This matters because leadership decisions based on suspicion can create significant secondary costs. If more people must attend doctors’ offices from the first day, practices may become overloaded, waiting times may rise, and costs may increase for employers and employees alike.
Why more control can create worse outcomes
The episode’s strongest operational argument is that control-oriented leadership can backfire when it ignores system effects. Brabandt explains that if doctors are required to see more people in person, they may issue longer sick notes because repeated checks are inefficient and economically unattractive under the relevant reimbursement structures. A policy designed to reduce absence may therefore create the opposite result. For business leaders, the implication is clear. Before introducing controls, leaders must test whether the control improves the system or merely satisfies a desire to appear strict.
Motivation is not a speech. It is a system of credibility.
Brabandt rejects the idea that motivation can be produced by a pep talk detached from reality. In his view, motivation is grounded in the relationship between leadership credibility, organisational fairness, psychological factors, and tangible value for employees. People are more likely to commit effort when they believe the team matters, the mission is credible, the benefits are real, and leadership decisions are based on evidence rather than resentment. Conversely, when employees experience one-sided demands, weak evidence, or symbolic gestures instead of genuine improvements, motivation declines.
The psychology of absence and commitment
One of the most practical insights in the episode concerns the psychological dimension of sick leave. Brabandt argues, drawing on the discussion with Professor Dr Volker Nürnberg, that absence decisions are not purely medical. They are also influenced by whether employees feel connected to the team, respected by leadership, and supported by the organisation. When people experience work as fair, meaningful, and reciprocal, they are more likely to show up responsibly. When they experience leadership as extractive, indifferent, or performative, they are more likely to disengage.
Tangible benefits outperform symbolic gestures
For decision-makers, Brabandt’s message is highly pragmatic. Organisations must move beyond empty gestures and focus on tangible benefits. Health offers, credible working conditions, realistic workloads, fair pay, and meaningful support structures matter more than slogans. The episode also challenges the fashionable claim that money does not matter. Brabandt does not reduce motivation to money, but he is clear that money remains relevant, especially for employees facing rent, mortgages, inflation, and the concrete realities of life. Pizza parties and corporate drinks do not replace fair compensation or credible leadership.
The myth of more hours and automatic productivity
Brabandt also challenges the persistent myth that more working hours automatically create more prosperity. He points to the flawed assumption that the country or organisation with the longest working hours should logically be the richest or most productive. Complex systems do not work that way. Productivity depends on technology, skill, health, quality of management, infrastructure, incentives, trust, and market position. Leaders who reduce performance to hours worked reveal that they are not analysing productivity seriously enough.
Leadership requires more effort, not louder certainty
A recurring theme throughout the episode is intellectual discipline. Brabandt stresses that leadership requires more effort before speaking, deciding, or demanding change. Leaders must check sources, examine data, test assumptions, and distinguish between what feels true and what can be supported. This is particularly important in public leadership, corporate communication, and change management. Once a leader builds a reputation for using questionable claims, every subsequent message becomes harder to trust.
What science-based motivation looks like in practice
In practical terms, the episode outlines a science-led leadership approach. First, leaders should identify what truly drives employees rather than assuming laziness or weakness. Second, they should design benefits and working conditions that people can actually use. Third, they should make decisions based on data rather than resentment. Fourth, they should recognise the role of psychology in performance and absence. Fifth, they should communicate with evidence, not borrowed mythology. This is not soft leadership. It is disciplined leadership.
The strategic message for decision-makers
The episode by Niels Brabandt is a warning against leadership theatre. Motivational myths may create applause in the moment, but they rarely create sustainable performance. Decision-makers who want resilient organisations need a stronger standard. They need evidence-based leadership, credible communication, and a people-centred understanding of performance. In a business environment shaped by demographic pressure, technological disruption, cost constraints, and social fatigue, motivation cannot be left to slogans. It must be designed, measured, and led with professional seriousness.
Conclusion: facts motivate better than myths
The central message is clear: leadership improves when science replaces myth, when evidence replaces ego, and when tangible value replaces symbolic pressure. Niels Brabandt’s episode shows that motivation is not created by telling people to be tougher. It is created when leaders understand human needs, verify their claims, build credible systems, and make work worth committing to. For business decision-makers, this is more than a communication lesson. It is a strategic requirement for performance, trust, and sustainable organisational success.
Niels Brabandt
---
More on this topic in this week's videocast and podcast with Niels Brabandt: Videocast / Apple Podcasts / Spotify
For the videocast’s and podcast’s transcript, read below this article.
Is excellent leadership important to you?
Let's have a chat: NB@NB-Networks.com
Contact: Niels Brabandt on LinkedIn
Website: www.NB-Networks.biz
Podcast and Videocast Transcript
Niels Brabandt
You're all highly motivated, aren't you? Or maybe not. Maybe you need a bit of a pep talk. Maybe your leader needs to talk to you and just give you a nice chat, and then you're motivated. Or maybe not. The question is: why are so many people so non-motivated? And of course, I really promised myself not to bring this up, but I had to, because again and again it is omnipresent in free enterprise, in organizations, even in public service.
Niels Brabandt
When something happens in a sports tournament and it doesn't go too well for your country, immediately people declare the end of the nation. I'll give you an example: Germany now lost against Paraguay, end of World Cup. So now, I just saw today when I record this, the national manager steps down, and someone else is now—Jürgen Klopp is now in the round going for negotiations. It's extremely important now that as soon as this happens, we had national newspapers, we had really serious magazines having headlines such as "Germany is not Germany anymore because a football team" or "The American listens—a soccer team didn't win the World Cup or ended earlier than expected." Because of course, as a German, you assume no one else except you can play football or soccer. Of course, no one else can. Of course, we expected more. And when the chancellor posted next day, "We are so proud of you," probably that was not really the vibe or the mood the nation was in.
Niels Brabandt
However, claiming that due to a sports event, the decline of the nation can be derived is, I would love to say, pseudoscientific, but it's not even that. It's plain and straightforward nonsense. And then you wonder why people stop listening to leaders. And I'm not here to tell you what to do and what not to do. However, I can tell you what works and does not work. And that is, surprisingly, not based on pep talks or on personal opinions.
Niels Brabandt
Because one quote very quickly made the round. One quote suddenly was omnipresent all over different publications, and I wondered where does this quote come from. So I am giving you—I'm giving you the quote they were talking about. The quote because, of course, immediately people said, "The reason why we lost is we're not hungry enough. We're not hard enough. We're not inspired enough. We need to get back to the nation being strong. We need to work harder. We need to work more." You know? All of that. All of it. Back to the 19 whatever. And that is debatable at best.
Niels Brabandt
So now, talking about the quote I saw. The quote I saw on many different LinkedIn profiles, even in newspapers, was—and I quote word by word—"Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times." That is half the quote. I just tell you, I am born and bred German. Strong men create good times. Look into a history book of Germany. Look into a history book. And when you say that this is good times, debatable at best. Yeah? You did not—just no. But that's only half the quote. So half the quote is "Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times." Already, there is no proof for that. It goes on: "Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times." And this was all over the place.
Niels Brabandt
And then first people claimed Plato said that. Some people then said Socrates said that. And suddenly people claimed different people in free enterprise are quoting them from some other sources. So one person quoting the other. So I started the research to find where this quote comes from, because I haven't heard it anywhere in science, literature, or history, as of yet. So it was really hard to find. But I found the original source. The original source is from 2015, which already tells you probably Plato and Socrates didn't say that. And the original quote is from the book Those Who Remain, from Michael Hopp. Michael Hopp writes post-apocalyptic fiction. It's a fiction author. It's not science. And on top of that, which I found out while I researched that, he is part of the right-wing libertarian spectrum. So far away from any neutral or quotable source in that context.
Niels Brabandt
However, many people liked it and said, "We have to work harder, right? Only hard men create good times." Hard men, hard work, rah-rah-rah-rah-rah. And when you do something like that and you're surprised people aren't motivated, here are the news. When you make up statements, take them out of context, because you have no clue what you're talking about, people will be demotivated, not motivated. And while you declare the end of society, you are actively contributing to exactly that.
Niels Brabandt
So how can we do better? Because that's why we're here. So step number one, obviously: when you make any kind of statements, research the source. If you can't find it, you can say, "Hey, I found this with no source." However, then of course you know it's probably not going to work too well. So please check the sources you have, because otherwise you will have a pretty bad awakening sooner or later. Because if you don't have the source, but you claim this is just science, or this is the truth, this is what we do, what you do here is nothing else than putting your ego forward. And I can tell you, we just had that recently in the Federal Republic of Germany. We had some reforms, and I give you that. Full disclosure here, because anything else would be unfair. I am part of the liberal spectrum, not libertarian, but liberal spectrum. So conservative parties are usually our first coalition partners. So the conservative government in Germany now, together, there's a coalition at the moment of conservative and Labour, which is unthinkable in many countries, but it works in Germany somehow. And they've brought forward quite a number of quite good
Niels Brabandt
reforms. However, one part of that reform is there is one thing which happened a couple of years ago, which is new. You can now call in sick by telephone. So the official calling in sick, you can call your doctor, tell them your symptoms, and then you get a doctor's notice, because sometimes you need a doctor's notice. The reason for that was people wanted to prevent that in the waiting room of doctors, cross-contamination happened. Some people got out of the doctor's office more sick than they were before due to the time in the waiting room where they waited for hours, and then got contaminated by other people having severe diseases. Also, when, for example, you have respiratory disease, where you can't hardly breathe, when someone says, "Could you please go to the office?" they say, "I can't even walk to the bathroom."
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, well, here are the news. The government now said, "People aren't working hard enough. People are tricking with this call in sick, and they are faking things." By the way, of course, doctors always have to check. So when someone calls in sick too often, you can deny and tell them, "Hey, you have to come to the office." There's vehiculation in place for that. But of course, the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, now said, "We're going to end that." From day one, you now need a doctor's notice.
Niels Brabandt
I interviewed on my German channel Professor Dr. Volker Nürnberg, the leading expert on absenteeism and absenteeism science and research in Germany. And here's the number. Here is the number. First, look into science. Because now you could think, "Okay, when we're all cheating in Germany, what is the percentage of people calling in sick at the doctor's office for a doctor's note on the phone?" That must be a very high percentage. Here's the number: 4%. 4%. Four. Not 40, not 14. One, two, three, four. That number. 4%. So that already shows the decision wasn't great.
Niels Brabandt
And on top of that, it wasn't even thought through, because the idea is we need to become more competitive, work harder, be more productive. That brings in money. And here comes the reality. So first, 4% of all people calling in sick now have to go to the doctor's office. And according to Professor Dr. Volker Nürnberg, that will create an additional 10 patients per doctor per day of the year. Every day. Except on Mondays, where the highest number of people call in sick, that's 25 more patients per day.
Niels Brabandt
Think of the average doctor you go to, no matter in which country you are. When I tell you, imagine a waiting space, and per day there are 10 more people, and Monday plus 25, people will say they don't even physically fit in anymore. I'm waiting for 2 hours already with an appointment. And without I wait for 4 hours, an additional 10 is going to make me wait for a day or even longer. And on top of that, in Germany, doctors get a certain fee as soon as patients turn up, and they only get it quarterly. So doctors, because they have to run practices which are profitable, they have an interest that you only turn up once per quarter, or even less, probably.
Niels Brabandt
So what will they do? So first, of course, more patients turn up. The cost will go through the roof. Oh, by the way, who pays these costs? Oh, under German law, 50% paid by the employer, 50% paid by the employee. Meaning you wait longer, your employer has less money, and the employee has less money as well. So there's less space for investment, or for salary raises, or for anything. It harms just anyone. But of course, "Hey, we have to work harder. I can't call in sick by the phone, right?" And you see, I'm slightly, slightly frustrated with this here.
Niels Brabandt
So we see here, and by the way, on top of that, that you have all the costs, what happens now is the doctor now will say, "Look, you have a bit of a cuff, but I only get paid once per quarter to see you. So I have no interest on Monday to tell you, 'Come back on Tuesday so I still check that you have a cuff.'" The doctor will say, "Look, you have a cuff. Could be bad. I'm not quite sure. Here is a doctor's notice for 3 to 5 days. Let's do 5 days. So have a week off and recover well." So in my opinion, and that is something which Professor Dr. Volker Nürnberg fully agrees, so I agree with him, not vice versa. He's the expert on the matter. He says, "Either nothing will happen with sick days, or they will go up." And that would be the worst nightmare. However, I assume this will happen.
Niels Brabandt
So when you have any kind of publication, when you read anything, when you hear any quote, check for the source. The malattribution of any kind of quote is all over the place now. Because leadership also means you have to put in more effort when you put something forward. When you say something, check for the sources. When you put something forward, check if it's true. When you make a statement and you say, "People don't work with us," probably check with the data first.
Niels Brabandt
Because when you say, "We don't work enough," the conclusion would be the country with the most working hours is the richest on earth. Most working hours per worker by the day, according to the last data I looked at, is in Mexico, not particularly a country which is listed among the top 10 richest. And when you say, "More days off lead to people not working anymore, we're all going to be poor," that could conclude to the people with the most days off paid holidays is the poorest country on the planet. By the way, the country with the most paid days of holidays and vacation is Luxembourg. Not really too poor when you look into their data. One of the richest countries we have on earth. There is no easy solution in a complex system. Can we finally please understand that?
Niels Brabandt
Leadership means you have to put in the effort. Do you seriously think I'm now sitting on my fourth master's degree, plus potentially a doctorate starting at the end of the year, because I think I know it all and I'm not going to get additional education? I know there are lots of consultants out there, trainers, speakers, coaches, name it as you like, who think they know it all by just making brash statements.
Niels Brabandt
And when another motivational speaker said, "Oh, when you're always in control, you're not going fast enough. You have to tell people to work hard, because hard work is what makes the world go round, and life isn't fair. Get over it." When this is the level you work on, don't be surprised that things aren't getting any better, because you're far away from the factual situation.
Niels Brabandt
So how can we now make things better? According to scientific research, so proven results, sick leave goes down, so you motivate people more when you focus on people's needs. When you, for example, make health offers, people are healthier. Not a surprise. But here comes the surprise. Even people who don't pick up the offer in the organization still are healthier. Because as Professor Dr. Volker Nürnberg says, "50% of sick leave is psychology."
Niels Brabandt
People get up in the morning, didn't sleep too well, neck is a bit painful, bit of a cuff, not too bad, but who knows. You look out of the window and it's snowing sideways. And now you're sitting at the edge of your bed and think. And when you think, "Come on, mate, it's a really great team, they need you, and you need them. It's a great team, we get this done," then you get up and you go to work.
Niels Brabandt
When you sit there and you think, "No one ever cares if I do more work. The only thing I get when I do more work is a knock from the boss and they cash in on the money." These people will say, "My weekend starts right here, because I call in the doctors." Or even worse, they now have to go to the doctor and say, "I feel way more sick than you can ever imagine." And they call in sick for 2 weeks.
Niels Brabandt
Focus on the people. Leadership is a people business, and that cannot be too surprising to you. And the benefits you have to offer need to be tangible. Something they can really relate to. Something they can use. Something that is of use for the people. For example, the lower the salary is, the higher the impact is, at least for a temporary amount of time, of a salary raise.
Niels Brabandt
In the long, because often people say, "People don't care that much about money." H2 is not the only thing, but it is a thing. If you say, "We only have pizza parties," that's not going to make the cut. If you say, "Oh, we have a nice corporate out every once in a while, so we all have drinks together," nice. But money is also a thing, because rent is there, or a mortgage.
Niels Brabandt
For younger people, probably more rent than mortgage, if we look at the reality right now. So tangible benefits. You have to step away as a leader from pseudoscience. Only focus on the facts. Science leads the way. Because when you do everything right and you lead with tangible benefits, you truly motivate people. You stick to their inner mission. You know what motivates them, and you really make things work.
Niels Brabandt
And that is a benefit for you and the organization. And if you do it that way, in this case, you will see a massive benefit for you, for the organization, and for the people working for you. And then everything will get better from there. And I wish you all the best implementing this in your organization. And when you now say, "Oh, I think I have a couple of questions here," feel free to contact me anytime.
Niels Brabandt
So first, of course, when you now watch me on YouTube, feel free to leave a like there. Thank you very much. Subscribe to my channel and leave a comment there. Thank you very much for doing so as well. And when you now listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, feel free to leave a review there, 5 stars. Thank you very much for doing so.
Niels Brabandt
Thank you very much for the last couple of weeks, very successful. You probably saw, we are now even ranked, we are ranked on 170 in the US, the most competitive podcast market. We are ranked 85 in India, where millions of podcasts are out there. I can't be prouder of this. Thank you very much for your support here.
Niels Brabandt
Please keep on recommending this channel, online or offline, friends, colleagues, anywhere. Feel free to post it on social media. We're always looking for more listeners and growing this, because we are always doing proper content, not just chit-chat. Of course, on top of that, we promised you leadership tips every day.
Niels Brabandt
We stick to the promised YouTube short, so it pays off when you subscribe to the YouTube channel. Put the little bell in there so you see when there is something new coming up and you can act accordingly. And then you see everything, of course, you're not missing anything. So put the little bell in there also as well.
Niels Brabandt
On top of that, you can, of course, follow me on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and of course, when you say, "Hey, we need someone who really helps us online or onsite," trainer, speaker, coach, consultant, mentor, project interim manager, speaker for the conference, whatever else, always happy to do that. Go to my website, nb-networks.biz, and you see what I'm doing.
Niels Brabandt
And of course, you can also contact me via email, nb@nb-networks.com. Always looking forward to hearing from you as well. On top of that, of course, is the expert letter. When you want to have live sessions, go to expert.nb-networks.com, sign up there. No worries, you only receive one email every single Wednesday in the morning.
Niels Brabandt
It's 100% content, ad-free guarantee. More than 500 articles, podcasts, video casts out there, fully accessible via the leadership letter. And of course, there is the date, the time, and the access link for the live session. We only communicate that via the leadership letter, nowhere else. So you only get access to that via the leadership letter.
Niels Brabandt
And by the way, when you say, "We need a live session, but more like a private one for my company," just sign up and then you can answer to the leadership letter saying, "Hey, I want to have a private one," and then we just take it from there. I'm looking forward to hearing from you there. And of course, you can connect with me on social media.
Niels Brabandt
Connect on LinkedIn with me. You can, of course, follow me on Instagram. You can leave a like on Facebook or simply subscribe to my YouTube channel, or do all of the above. I'm always very thankful if you follow me on all channels. Finally, at the end of all of this, when you contact me, no worries, I answer every single message within 24 hours.
Niels Brabandt
So if I don't get back to you within 24 hours, probably your message hasn't reached my inbox, and then please try again. But usually, messages go through. I'm always looking forward to hearing from you. There is no exception. I answer every single message within 24 hours or less. And of course, now the important bit, what to do at the end.
Niels Brabandt
Apply, apply, apply what you heard, because only when you apply what you heard, you will see the positive impact that you want to see in your organization. So at the end of this podcast, as well as at the end of this video cast, there is only one thing left for me to say. Thank you very much for your time.