{"id":13282,"date":"2025-09-24T12:13:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13282"},"modified":"2025-09-24T12:13:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:13:43","slug":"motivation-isnt-just-personal-its-contagious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/09\/motivation-isnt-just-personal-its-contagious\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivation isn\u2019t just personal \u2014 it\u2019s contagious!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Beth Wolstenholme<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leadership at any level in education can be both rewarding and challenging. For a Programme Manager (PM) overseeing Personal Development, Behaviour and Attitudes (PDBA), juggling the workload of supporting student wellbeing, GCSE resits, teaching PSHE, safeguarding and managing a team can be demanding. So, how do PDBA PMs stay motivated and carry on during times of demotivation? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why This Matters <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Motivation impacts an individual, but the motivation of leaders can trickle down and impact their team. Research suggests that when leaders feel positive and motivated, they model effective behaviours, reduce stress within teams and can even help lower staff absence (Perryman & Calvert, 2020; Greiger & Pivovarova, 2018). I wanted to find out: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What drives PDBA PMs to enter and stay in the profession? <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How does their leadership style shift depending on motivation levels? <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What strategies do they use to manage themselves and their teams during the highs and lows of the workplace? <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. \u200bHow does their state of mind affect staff morale and performance?\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The Approach <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Using a case study approach, allowed the exploration of rich insights rather than reducing them to statistics. PDBA PMs shared their real experiences in interviews and revealed their motivations, coping strategies and glimpses into their individual leadership styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Findings <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. What drives PDBA PMs to enter and stay in the profession? Interestingly, despite having advanced to positions of leadership, the PMs all still held “making a difference”, improving the learner experience and supporting young people as their motives to work in education. One summarised, “That is your fundamental driving force behind all of this: It involves ensuring that the students receive the greatest education possible while under your care.\u201d This suggests that even in managerial positions, their motivation is still to support the improvement of young people’s lives and use their positions to influence others to do the same. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. How does their leadership style shift depending on motivation levels? The leadership behaviour of the PMs seemed to follow a similar pattern; when motivated they were positive and creative, even \u201cbuzzing\u201d. However, demotivation significantly dropped the energy they brought to the role. When experiencing demotivation, the PMs attended work but with the attitude of \u201clet\u2019s just get through the day\u201d and saw them \u201cnot putting as much effort in\u201d. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. What strategies do they use to manage themselves and their teams during the highs and lows of the workplace? When motivated, the PMs enjoyed getting to know their teams on a personal level, ensuring staff felt valued, were offered opportunities to be creative and autonomous, and supported in their roles. Demotivation saw them taking themselves away from their responsibilities, with the aim to reflect and re-focus. This took the form of an afternoon working from home, asking team members to \u201cdo your job to the best of your abilities,\u201d and \u201cworking out what I need to do for the day \u2026 and just prioritise\u201d. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. How does their state of mind affect staff morale and performance? All the PMs knew that their motivation levels had an impact on their team. They discussed how when they were motivated and energised, this feeling \u201cpassed on\u201d. However, when demotivated, their teams would take on the workload of the PM in an effort to support them. While admirable, this then put extra pressure on the team. In both motivational states, it was acknowledged that leaders significantly shift the atmosphere in positive or negative ways. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"Summary
      Image generated by ChatGPT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      What This Means <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      This study highlighted the powerful role of trust, positivity and valuing staff in shaping workplace relationships and on a bigger scale, culture. For leaders in FE, this is an important reminder that motivation is contagious. Leadership strategies must adapt with morale and motivation levels, and professional relationships built on trust and respect can improve periods of demotivation. Overall, motivation matters for more than just the individual; it has a direct impact on the culture and atmosphere of the team. Leaders should be encouraged to be adaptive, self-aware and build positive relationships in order to better support both learners and staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Call to action:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Connect with Beth Wolstenholme via LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      References <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Geiger, T., & Pivovarova, M. (2018). The effects of working conditions on teacher retention. Teachers and Teaching theory and practice, 24(6), 604-625. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/13540602.2018.1457524<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Perryman, J., & Calvert, G. (2020). What Motivates People To Teach, And Why Do They Leave? Accountability, Performativity And Teacher Retention. British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(1), 3-23. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/00071005.2019.1589417 <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"#AmplifyFE\"<\/figure>
      \n

      Thanks for reading this AmplifyFE post!\u00a0AmplifyFE<\/a>\u00a0is a strategic partnership between ALT and the\u00a0Ufi VocTech Trust<\/a>. AmplifyFE connects over 3000 professionals in Further Education and Vocational Education, providing a strong networking community to share, collaborate and learn. We connect innovators, industry and educators, therefore,\u00a0AmplifyFE\u00a0posts may include\u00a0contributions with a commercial focus. AmplifyFE\u2019s posts are included on the #altc blog to support networking, collaboration and sharing.\u00a0For more information, please check\u00a0AmplifyFE\u2019s\u00a0dedicated submission guidelines. The #altc blog\u00a0submission guidelines<\/a>\u00a0detail who can post and the type of posts accepted to this blog.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Beth Wolstenholme Leadership at any level in education can be both rewarding and challenging. For a Programme Manager (PM) overseeing Personal Development, Behaviour and Attitudes (PDBA), juggling the workload of supporting student wellbeing, GCSE resits, teaching PSHE, safeguarding and managing a team can be demanding. So, how do PDBA PMs stay motivated and carry on during times of […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1499],"tags":[1412,725,1920,2225,840,2131,1227],"class_list":["post-13282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amplifyfe","tag-amplifyfe","tag-altc","tag-amplifyfe-2","tag-beth-wolstenholme","tag-further-education","tag-further-education-and-skills","tag-motivation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1468%2C1100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11192,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/06\/amplifyfe-out-and-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":13282,"position":0},"title":"#AmplifyFE out and about","author":"ALT","date":"21 June 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The #AmplifyFE team have been busy bees this year, travelling up and down the country to attend a variety of conferences. 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