I was having a conversation with a sales manager the other day about how to train and develop his salespeople.  After mapping out an effective curriculum, he paused and asked, “This is great for the motivated ones, but what about the people that are just lazy?” 

It’s an interesting question, but in the end it’s the wrong one.  I have yet to meet a person who is genuinely lazy, someone who has laziness as an inherent part of their personality.  I have, however, met many, many individuals who exhibit lazy behaviors.  Laziness is a symptom, not a disease.  I’ve found there are three reasons why someone will act lazily:

1. Fear of the Unknown – When we engage in a new activity, something changes and we don’t always know how that change will affect us.  Or we think the change will have some benefit, but we aren’t sure; in fact, it might actually cause pain.
2. Lack of Competence – If we don’t know how to accomplish a task, it’s easier to not even attempt it.  This is commonly found in the business world. 
3. No Compelling Reason to Act – An unfinished project would be usually be finished immediately if there was suddenly a million dollar reward.  This is complicated, however, by the fact that most compelling reasons are rarely financial (as you can see when, counter-intuitively, financial rewards don’t create increased activity).

When faced with managing a “lazy” person, then, the most important part of the process is diagnosing the real cause of inaction.  It’s important to identify which of these three reasons is most prevalent.  By the way, if you are facing your own inherent “laziness”, it’s the same process.

This is the true role of a leader or manager: finding out why those you are overseeing aren’t taking action.  And people are often unaware of their true blocks, which makes it more challenging.  In many ways, the most important role to play is one of investigator or detective, because once the real problems are known, it’s possible to prescribe remedies to the disease of laziness:

1. If there is a fear of the unknown, help to define possible outcomes.  Although the future can never be fully known, it’s often enough to dispel worst-case scenarios to create movement.
2. If a lack of competence is leading to inaction, help develop competence.  Provide training and direction on the skills necessary for success: create opportunities to practice and role-play, give access to books and other necessary materials, or send people to  conferences and seminars.  The more comfortable someone is in performing a task or activity, the more likely they are to engage in it.
3. Most importantly, create rewards and reasons to act.  As stated before, financial rewards usually fall flat.  However, we get stuck on financial rewards because they're easy.  Spend time with people in your organization and you’ll find what really makes them move.  The desire for personal and professional growth, the desire to help the team and be part of something bigger, or the desire to feel appreciated can be powerful motivators to tap into. 

“Laziness” is an easy scapegoat; it’s easy to call someone lazy and write them off.  With a little attention and conversation, though, it’s possible to get past initial impressions to the true challenges, and therefore, to the true solutions.