775: How to Motivate Younger Employees, with David Yeager

775: How to Motivate Younger Employees, with David Yeager

From Coaching for Leaders by Dave Stachowiak

March 23, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 775

About this episode

David Yeager discusses effective strategies for motivating younger employees based on psychological research.

David Yeager: 10 to 25 David Yeager is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. He is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors such as motivation, engagement, healthy eating, bullying, stress, mental health, and more. He is the author of 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People ( Amazon , Bookshop )*. Older generations have been complaining about younger generations for all of recorded history. Today is no different, and I often hear how leaders are struggling with motivating their younger employees. In this conversation, David and I explore the most recent research and practice for what actually works. Key Points Older generations have been complaining about younger generations for all of recorded history. Often, our complaints are the result of our own past experiences. Many leaders experience the mentor’s dilemma: being nice and putting up with poor performance, or being critical and demanding higher performance. Status and respect for a young person are as…

People in this episode

Host: Dave Stachowiak

Guest: David Yeager

Topics covered

  • motivation
  • younger employees
  • leadership
  • psychology
  • feedback
  • interventions

Keywords

  • motivation
  • younger generations
  • leadership
  • feedback
  • psychology
  • engagement
  • performance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Texas at Austin, Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute

Books & works: 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People

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