# Dubious Inspirational Quotes By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2025-01-15 When managers and executives start providing inspirational quotes about vague ideas of overcoming challenges, not giving up, and working as a team, one should exercise heightened awareness and reflection. What is the motivation and subtext behind these motivational quotes? What would make someone even decide that a motivational quote was worth sharing? Only a few situations come to mind. First, this person stumbled upon the quote and thought it was impactful. In this case, there should be little context around why the quote was shared other than "I thought this was a good quote." This makes the quote truly random noise and likely safe to be ignored within the organizational and work context. The other situation is when the person sought out the quote, anticipating how one would react to or feel about a situation. This means premeditation and intentionality. Given how humans decide emotions exclusively, something compels them to select this quote because they think something themselves and are in some way concerned. If one is chatting with a mentor or friend, they will provide such quotes to help reframe and support you. If one is listening to a manager and executive, they provide such quotes to benefit the organization, themselves, and maybe the workers, in that order. This is what they are paid to do, after all. They are incentivized to act on behalf of the organization. Leaders are different. Leaders may or may not be managers, but they are incentivized to act on behalf of the group. Few managers and executives are also leaders. If a leader provides an inspirational quote, it bolsters the solidarity of those who follow them. If a manager provides an inspirational quote, it's to bolster themselves and the organization against some anxiety and existential threat hidden from the rest of the workforce. Always look beyond what is said and consider the context. #### Related Items [[Quote]] [[Inspiring]] [[Management]] [[Leadership]] [[Executives]] [[Organization]] [[Thinking]] [[Work]] [[Reflection]]