"Motivation conversations" can be difficult for both sides, as each person must accept the premise, hear and understand the other person's values and create a path to success, writes Susan Fowler. "You need to be optimally motivated before you can conduct a successful motivation conversation to help someone else experience optimal motivation," she writes.

Anyone who says business isn't personal is missing an opportunity to support people's professional and psychological needs, writes Susan Fowler. "If you do not notice, acknowledge and deal with a person's emotions, you may unwittingly be undermining that sense of well-being that is the vital link to a person's intentions and behavior," she writes.

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Susan Fowler's article "It’s not personal, it's business?" reminded me of "The Office" episode where Michael is angry and embarrassed after speaking to Ryan's business school class. Ryan says, "It wasn't personal," and Michael cuts him off: "Business is always personal. It’s the most personal thing in the world."

Steve Carell plays that line almost too well, perhaps adding a pathos that didn't exist in the script. The lesson for us: Work is extremely important to millions of people. Don't discount that, because you discount them.

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