You Can’t Train People to Care

People Operations

May 27

A client recently said to me:

“I’m building playbooks, tracking productivity, and incentivizing my team. But some of them still don’t seem to care. I’m trying to step out of operations and buy back my time, but I feel stuck. Maybe I need to train on work ethic?”

This is something I hear often from CEOs who are scaling. You’ve done the work to build the structure. You’re putting systems in place. And yet, it still feels like something is missing.

First, Let’s Acknowledge the Progress

If this sounds like you, I want to acknowledge what you’ve done right:

You’re thinking in systems. You’re focusing on team productivity and sales. You’re moving toward a leadership role rather than staying buried in operations. That’s exactly the right direction.

But here’s what I told that client:

You can’t train work ethic. And you can’t incentivize people to care.

That’s the hard truth. It’s not a flaw in your leadership. It’s just a reality of culture.

What You Can Train Is Standards

Work ethic is internal. It comes from values, not policies.

But what we can train—what we must train—is standards. We can create an environment where expectations are crystal clear, where leaders emerge naturally, and where accountability isn’t something you do to people. It’s something they take on themselves.

Here’s what we walked through together to shift the culture:

Define what winning looks like every week

Keep it simple and specific. When people know what success looks like, they’re more likely to chase it.

Assign captains to lead micro-teams

Let people step into leadership. Not everyone will, and that’s revealing in itself.

Use visual scoreboards to track progress

Make success visible. When the scoreboard is up, people pay attention.

Add weekly self-audits

This builds reflection into your culture. It helps your team learn to evaluate their own contributions before you ever have to.

Remove what (or who) doesn’t align

Yes, this one is tough. But if something isn’t working, it’s costing you more than you think.

If This Is Where You Are, You’re Not Alone

It’s easy to think you’re doing something wrong when culture feels shaky or performance is hit-or-miss. But this is part of the growth process.

This is the real work of leadership.

It’s also why so many CEOs begin with our HR Audit. We take a comprehensive look at your HR systems through a legal, financial, cultural, and operational lens. You walk away with a clear path to align your people, your standards, and your outcomes.