---
title: How Can I Make People Care? - ViRTUS
description: "I received an email today from a CEO the other day asking me, \"Do you have any good references / literature on 'how to make people care'? Here's my reponse."
---

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# How Can I Make People Care?

 Published by [Mike Desjardins](https://blog.virtusinc.com/virtus-inc-leadership-journal/author/mike-desjardins) on Dec 3, 2009 11:26:14 PM

![](https://blog.virtusinc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/DR_JEKYLL_AND_MR_HYDE___31_.jpg?width=243&height=317&name=DR_JEKYLL_AND_MR_HYDE___31_.jpg "Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde")\[read time: less than 1 minute\]

I received an email today from a CEO the other day asking me, “Do you have any good references / literature on ‘how to make people care’? I’m having some employee challenges.”

I thought I would share my response with you:

“Three ways:

1) hire people who care (it’s an attitudinal thing, not a training thing)  
 2) show a direct connection between success for them and why they should care  
 3) lobotomy – expensive and illegal but can dramatically shift innate personality traits. For examples of when this doesn’t work I suggest renting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (and yes, I know, that was a potion, not a lobotomy – you get the idea).

Motivation is not something people need to receive. It’s finding ways to remove the things that demotivate people that keeps them motivated (if you hire self-starters).”

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