Motivational Management: Inspiring Your People for Maximum Performance

Personality and Motivation

Personality is the unique temperament each individual brings to work. It is partially inborn and partially the result of experience, so it can and does change over time—but slowly over many years. It may also vary a bit by life-stage. For example, when people are just out of school and entering the workforce, they are in a stage of early adulthood that is oriented toward gaining experience, forming relationships, and building a career. Later, they may be raising children and worrying about a mortgage, and their priorities and interests will be different. But at any one period of time, the personality that each employee brings to work is a constant that you as a manager need to take into account.

To appreciate how important ...