Sometimes a Leader Has to Carry the Motivation

Before I took charge of the Navy recruiting station in Grass Valley, California, I had already been named Zone Recruiter of the Year. That performance gave me the opportunity to qualify as a Recruiter in Charge and take responsibility for a station that was struggling.

It was a small office: two recruiters with a monthly goal of two enlistments. The territory stretched from Grass Valley toward the Nevada border, but the station had become dependent on a narrow portion of that market. My teammate was also arriving late and had developed habits that were hurting both his performance and the station.

The easy response would have been to treat him as the problem.

I did hold him accountable. For the first couple of weeks, getting him to arrive on time and ready to work required direct, uncomfortable conversations. But accountability by itself was not the goal. I wanted him to understand that I cared about our performance and that, if we performed, we could build a work environment we both enjoyed.

Trust began to grow when he saw that the standard was real, but so was my commitment to helping him meet it.

Then we looked beyond individual effort and examined the system around us.

I reviewed the station’s market and territory analysis and discovered that two schools in our assigned area had received little or no attention for several years. The office had relied heavily on the local high school while overlooking a large portion of its market.

My teammate and I spent several weeks driving to the outer reaches of our territory. We delivered recruiting materials, introduced ourselves to school officials, and established relationships in communities where the Navy had little visible presence. Once we gained access to those schools, the number of leads increased and word-of-mouth interest began working in our favor.

Within four months, the station nearly doubled its production.

The numbers mattered. They demonstrated that clearer expectations, better use of data, and broader community engagement could change an organization’s trajectory. But the most meaningful result arrived after I had already left.

About six months later, my former teammate called to thank me for helping him become a better recruiter.

Recruiting had become more demanding, but his improved performance meant he was succeeding instead of receiving the corrective attention directed toward recruiters who continued to struggle. The habits we had built together were still serving him after I was gone.

That conversation changed how I understood motivation.

People generally want to succeed, even when they initially resist what success requires. Sometimes a leader has to carry the motivation for a while. The leader establishes the standard, provides structure, removes obstacles, and helps the person experience a real win before that person can fully recognize what they are capable of.

Success builds confidence. Confidence makes future success easier to sustain. In that sense, winning breeds winners.

That does not mean dragging people without regard for their dignity or judgment. It means refusing to confuse someone’s current habits with their potential. It means combining accountability with investment—and staying engaged long enough for improvement to become something they own.

A turnaround is not complete when the numbers improve. It is complete when the people who produced those numbers are stronger, more capable, and able to continue succeeding after the leader leaves.

The station’s increased production was important. That phone call six months later was the result that told me the change had lasted.