Page 177 - The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

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Choosing people well (and mistakes are made which should be
confronted and remedied early) means looking at motivation, ability
and personality and you should, when interviewing, look for real
evidence behind the interviewee‘s facade.

Looking for the Michelangelo motive (where the quality of the work
itself is a key motivator) can yield good results in selecting highly
motivated individuals.You should look for:

• a sense of pride in the individual’s own work
• an attention to detail
• a willingness to ‘walk the extra mile’ to get things right

• a total lack of the ‘its good enough, let it go’ mentality
• an inner direction or responsibility for the work (without the
need for supervision)
• an ability to assess and evaluate own work, independently from
the opinions of others.

It should be stressed that perfectionism is not what is called for –
the best can be the enemy of the good.

Managers should check whether individuals are in the right job with
the right skills and abilities, otherwise motivation techniques will fail.
The aim is to select people who are motivated for the most
appropriate job.

Treat each person as an individual

Find out what motivates an individual, do not rely on generalised
theories or assumptions. Enter into a dialogue with each team
member – help them to clarify what it is that motivates them – and
use what you find to mutual benefit.

In each person you should engender a sense of:

• trust
• autonomy

Chapter 7: Motivation and people management 167