Trade tariffs are dominating the headlines these days, impacting global commerce and sparking debate. But as leaders, we need to be aware of another kind of tariff—one happening inside our own organizations, often unintentionally.
I call it the “Tariff on Employee Ideas.” It’s imposed not by governments, but by common leadership behaviors that inadvertently tax motivation, stifle innovation, and kill momentum before good ideas can even take root. The result? Frustration, disengagement, and ultimately, failure—like the senior leader who told me, “WE WON’T be launching any more teams,” just six months after celebrating successful frontline projects because of a senior leader’s failure to “show up.”
We invest billions in employee engagement programs, yet change initiatives still have a shockingly high failure rate. Why? Because genuine, sustainable change requires more than just soliciting input. It requires leadership that actively fosters psychological safety, enables rapid action, and maintains momentum. When leadership actions undermine these elements, they impose this costly “Tariff on Employee Ideas.”
Five Change Motivation Killers
Based on decades of experience detailed in Chapter 8 of my book, Ideas to Action, here are the most common “Motivation Killers”—leadership behaviors that act as this tariff:
- Not Showing Up (The MIA Leader)
Woody Allen quipped that “eighty percent of success is showing up,” and it’s doubly true for leaders sponsoring change. Skipping key milestones—the launch meeting, midpoint check-ins, or final results presentations—sends a devastating message: this isn’t important. It led to the unfortunate incident cited in the introduction; a bank EVP missed his team’s final results presentation (after they projected $500k in gains) because he was “on a call.” His casual apology couldn’t undo the damage; six months later, the initiative was dead due to lack of employee participation. Leadership presence signals value.
- Standing Up (or Not at All) at the Wrong Time
Leaders must balance protecting their teams with letting them shine. Failing here erodes trust.
- Failing to Protect: I saw a university team’s simple, cost-saving idea (“mowing air” less in summer) get shot down by procurement during a presentation. The team leader didn’t defend the idea or allow the champion to explain its full value. The proposal died. Leaders must shield teams presenting novel ideas.
- Stealing the Spotlight: Conversely, a colleague saw a hospital team leader summarize only her own contributions during a successful fall-prevention project, leaving her team’s work unacknowledged. This “Credit Annie” behavior kills shared ownership.
- Paralysis by Indecision (Death by Delay)
Indecision kills momentum faster than anything. In the Ideas-to-Action Process, quick wins build confidence. Leaders who stall – demanding endless data, running duplicative parallel processes, or hiding behind committees—destroy motivation. A nonprofit portfolio manager I knew left her job in frustration after her boss stalled an innovative reporting system for six months, forcing them to run duplicate systems and doubling the workload, simply because he couldn’t make a decision.
- Hidden Agendas (Poisoning Trust)
This behavior is insidious. It happens when leaders aren’t transparent about limitations, biases, or decisions already made before asking for employee input. I worked with a sales VP who sponsored a team to create a new strategy, despite having already promised his top reps nothing would change. The team wasted months developing a plan the VP had no intention of implementing. Transparency is essential for trust.
- The “Seagull Leader” Syndrome (Swooping and Pooping)
You know the type: the leader who swoops into a project mid-stream, squawks new directives unrelated to the team’s charter, creates chaos, and flies away, leaving the team to clean up the mess. This disrupts focus, confuses priorities, and undermines the team’s confidence and ownership.
Avoiding the Tariff on Employee Ideas with the Ideas-to-Action Process
These Five Motivation Killers aren’t usually intentional, but they are destructive. The Ideas-to-Action Process provides a framework built on foundational beliefs and leadership disciplines designed to prevent these missteps. It requires leaders to:
- Show Up: Actively participate at key milestones.
- Trust & Protect: Believe in their teams and shield them when necessary.
- Empower Effective Action: Give teams clear charters within their control.
- Prioritize Speed: Make timely decisions to maintain momentum.
- Be Transparent: Avoid hidden agendas.
By understanding these pitfalls and consciously adopting the principles outlined in Ideas to Action, leaders can stop accidentally imposing a “Tariff on Employee Ideas” and start truly unleashing their power for innovation.
Ready to remove the tariffs and build a culture of employee-powered innovation?
Learn more about the Ideas-to-Action Process and pre-order your copy today!
