What Highly Motivated People Need in a Job

What makes a champion?

With rare exceptions for the outrageously gifted, a champion is someone who is so intrinsically motivated to perform and achieve that they put in the work and the study necessary to hone their skills to become great. They are strivers deep in the fabric of their souls.

I was asked recently if you can help someone become great who is not intrinsically highly motivated, and I responded with a story from an old boxing coach of mine from Philadelphia. When he was training a boxer, the most damning thing he ever said about one of his prospects was this: "he's light on the left side." I didn't speak fluent Philly at that point, so I asked what that meant. "He doesn't have enough heart." And there's the ultimate cap on his potential.

Sure, you can incentivize someone to do the right things with positive reinforcement, monetary rewards, accolades, and even negative correction, but these are going to be short-term, ephemeral fixes that make climbing the hill of excellence more like wearing a 50lb pack and concrete boots instead of running up in your lightest trail sneakers. Why do that to yourself and spend all that extra energy to get to the same place (if you don't exhaust your energy before ever reaching the summit)?

So, if you want to hire and support the right people to achieve maximum performance in your organization, finding those with intrinsic, high motivation is critical. Now, how do you attract and keep those people?

I think no one has said it better than Kerwin Rae did in his analogy in this linked video about creating and supporting a high-caliber culture: don't take a high-caliber professional athlete and put them in the amateur league. As Kerwin insightfully says, highly motivated people need the following four things to thrive:

1. Autonomy:  to do what they want, how they want, when they want, and with whom they want

2. Mastery: the opportunity to learn and grow

3. Grit: the opportunity to push themselves

4. Purpose: meaningful work

And if you are a highly motivated person, when you're considering a new job or even a new business opportunity, ask your potential new boss (or in the case of going out on your own, really ask yourself): does this new opportunity offer me these critical aspects I need to thrive? Focusing on opportunities where the honest answer is a "hell yes" will point you strivers in the right direction for your next step.

Source:

Kerwin Rae, Linked In Post 2023