Why “disengaged staff” isn’t really the problem
- mpl3wis
- May 26
- 3 min read
And what changes when leaders stop trying to fix people
A manager said something to me recently that I haven’t been able to shake:
“I don’t think my team are disengaged. I think they’ve just stopped expecting anything to change.”
That landed.
Because we talk about engagement all the time.We measure it.We run surveys on it.We worry about it.
But very rarely do we ask what’s underneath it.
The quiet shift that happens before disengagement
Disengagement doesn’t usually arrive dramatically.
It doesn’t walk in and announce itself.
It shows up quietly:
Someone stops contributing ideas
Conversations become transactional
Feedback becomes minimal
Energy drops — not suddenly, just gradually
And by the time it’s visible, something more important has already happened:
People have stopped believing that their voice matters.
Most leaders respond in ways that make it worse
This is the part we don’t talk about enough.
When leaders notice disengagement, they often respond quickly — and with good intention:
Pushing for more accountability
Introducing new processes
Having “performance conversations”
Trying to motivate
But underneath those actions is usually an unspoken belief:
“Something is wrong with the team — and I need to fix it.”
That framing changes everything.
Because once we see the problem as the people,we stop being curious about the system, the environment, and our own impact.
The leaders who get different results do one thing differently
They pause.
Not to do nothing — but to think differently before acting.
They ask better questions:
What are people experiencing here?
Where have we unintentionally made it hard to contribute?
What conversations aren’t happening?
How do I show up when things are uncertain or tense?
This is not about being softer.
It’s about being more precise.
Because engagement is not something you “drive” into people.
It’s something that emerges when the conditions are right.
The real work isn’t fixing people — it’s developing leadership
I see this over and over again:
The moment a leader shifts from“How do I get them to engage?”to“What am I creating here — intentionally or not?”
everything changes.
Conversations change.Trust shifts.People test the water again.
Not because they’ve been pushed —but because something about the environment feels different.
Safer.More open.More worth contributing to.
This is harder than it sounds
Because this kind of leadership isn’t about knowing the right answer.
It’s about:
noticing your own patterns
being willing to sit in discomfort
responding thoughtfully rather than reacting quickly
holding conversations that don’t have neat endings
And most people have never been taught how to do that.
So what actually helps?
Not more theory.
Not more “tips.”
But space to:
reflect on real situations
try different ways of showing up
think through conversations before you have them
understand the impact you’re having
And importantly — to do that in a way that connects directly to your day-to-day reality as a leader.
If this resonates, there’s a next step
I created the Disengaged Staff Programme for exactly this space.
Not as a quick fix.But as a structured way to think differently about:
engagement
conversations
leadership impact
It’s designed to help you move from:
👉 “How do I fix this situation?”to👉 “How do I lead in a way that changes what’s possible here?”
If you’re curious, you can explore it here:
A final thought
Disengagement is rarely about a lack of motivation.
More often, it’s about a lack of belief.
And belief doesn’t change through instruction.
It changes through experience.
The kind of experience that leadership creates — whether we intend it or not.
If this sparked something for you, I’d be really interested:
What are you noticing in your own team right now?
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