Energy from the Future by Amie Devero

Posted on October 10, 2025 by Amie Devero, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

Whether explorers or entrepreneurs, the greatest source of energy and genius is the image of the distant new world we are creating.
Most of us know that it takes time and perseverance to achieve real excellence. Yet, many organizations strategize for the short-term. They focus on the next economic or market milestone but never look beyond that horizon. Strategically, this constrains the possibility for true category creation and business innovation. Perhaps less obviously, it may also reduce employee engagement. In 1271, <a href="https://www.havefunwithhistory.com/marco-polo-accomplishments/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Marco Polo</a> and his team set out to spread Christianity to China and to establish trade relationships with the then ruling dynasty. But the trip was hard. Hard beyond description. The journey took 24 years and involved harsh terrain, weather catastrophes, native hostility and massive distances. But it was that journey that brought knowledge of the Eastern World to Europe. Still, why did his team stick with him for so long in such awful conditions? In organizations, those that have attained real greatness have sustained their strategies and the efforts to propel them over decades and sometimes centuries. Just consider the stamina and effort that it took to create and sustain Burberry, L.L Bean, Hermes, or King Arthur Flour. Each has been around for over a century. That is not accidental. Nor does it arise out being in the right place at the right time. Because there were surely “wrong times” during that period—and yet, they endured and flourished. Our most venerated companies of today have reached for a future that is far-off and out of reach. SpaceX strives to inhabit Mars. Google strove to catalogue the world’s information. These were strategic choices, and they engendered game-changing enterprises. I’ve written often about the many <a href="https://beyondbetter.io/take-the-long-view/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">benefits </a>to long-term strategic planning, rather than short-term. But one of them is often overlooked. For companies that never look beyond the next quarter or annual report, employees see their roles as equally mercenary and short-term. And it’s hard to build any kind of extraordinary enterprise without a team of equally enthusiastic and driven people. <h2 class="header-anchor-post">Dwindling Engagement</h2> Over the last five years, employee engagement has mostly <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/659279/global-engagement-falls-second-time-2009.aspx" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">gone down.</a> I think there was some hope that by employers succumbing to the demand for remote work, employees would be happier and more engaged. They may be happier. They are not more engaged. In fact, the least engaged employees are those who are <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/356063/gallup-q12-employee-engagement-survey.aspx" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">remote or hybrid</a>. Strange, huh? All of that is background information that you need to be aware of if you are considering undertaking a game-changing strategy. Since most of my clients are high growth start-ups, they are all trying to do that. The question is, how do you build a culture that sustains that kind of employee engagement—or does it just comedown to hiring better people? <h2 class="header-anchor-post">Intrinsic Motivation</h2> Normally, we try to motivate employees through a one-way mechanism: the organization gives more to the employee. Higher wages, better incentives, more time off. We have hiring bonuses, give commissions and overrides. We try to make the environment enticing, and fun. But none of these address the most critical issue for sustaining employee engagement. Intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the experience of wanting to do what we’re doing, because it is either inherently interesting, or connected to a purpose that calls to us. That may be an altruistic purpose, or it may be a purpose that simply excites us. As I read that research I wondered how it was possible to activate somebody else’sintrinsic motivation. Isn’t that just a crapshoot? After all, we all have our own interests and the things that drive us to pursue learning something or completing a task. In my garden, I will happily work until my hands are frozen into cramped fists and sweat stings my eyes. All of that to make a lovely bed for a rose bush. Most people would not find that activity intrinsically motivating. But it motivates me because I feel a connection to the ultimate outcome, the rose blooms that will fascinate and delight me over the next decade. <h2 class="header-anchor-post">The “Right” People?</h2> Is that a replicable phenomenon or just a personal trait? If it’s a personality trait then business leaders are in trouble, because the odds are strictly against your stumbling onto those few individuals who are intrinsically motivated to write your code or serve your customers. But, as I said, it isn’t digging and moving dirt that I love. It’s the future rose blooms. That’s what pulls me forward. I dig holes, and heft wheelbarrows as an expression of my inspiration. And I am inspired by the garden I see in my mind’s eye; the garden that will be in full bloom next year, and even more so, next decade. <h2 class="header-anchor-post">Pieces of the Puzzle</h2> This isn’t my opinion. We understand the <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012420-091122" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">psychology</a> of intrinsic motivation and what causes it. <ul> <li> Connection to a Purpose </li> <li> <a href="https://augment.org/blog/what-is-intrinsic-motivation" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Connection</a> to Others or a Mission (or both) </li> <li> Autonomy </li> <li> Curiosity and the Opportunity to Satisfy It </li> </ul> If you can create those conditions, then the rest is simply a matter of structure—of crafting the nudges, triggers and incentives to sustain discipline. <h2 class="header-anchor-post">Connection to Purpose</h2> Let’s look at a few of those bullet points: <ul> <li> Connection to a purpose. </li> <li> Being connected to others on a mission. </li> </ul> On the surface, again, it looks like you must just seek out those who share your mission. But maybe there’s another way.

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