What motivates you?

Posted by Mitch McCrimmon Feb 14, 2007

How well do you understand your motivations at work? There are different angles you could take to answer this question. On the one hand, there are your aspirations or goals. You might be ambitious, hungry for power or keen to make more money. Then there is the question of what type of work you enjoy, how you like to spend your time at work. Do you like solving problems, running a project, championing change, developing new products, devising strategy, organizing others, being an expert, learning and developing yourself or meeting new people? Also, what things turn you off: a boss who leaves you on your own, one who monitors you quite closely, conflict at work, negative feedback, tight deadlines, large workload, too many things to do at once, lack of clear direction, poor career prospects, no opportunity to learn, no sense of fun at work, poor team work, unattractive working environment, all of the above, or what? Can you identify one job you had in the past that you enjoyed far more than others? What were the key elements of that job that you liked and how can you build them into your present job? Keep in mind that if you feel unhappy about some circumstantial things, like not getting paid enough or not liking your boss, it may be that you are not doing work that you really enjoy or that is fully appreciated by others. Often we complain about things around us when we are unhappy, but these things may not be the real causes of our unhappiness. So, how well do you know yourself?