Much of my job is centred round working out what drives people’s actions…
Motivation –> behaviour –> consequence.
…and which part of this sequence might be perceived as the most valuable to the individual.
Motivations need to be pure
Behaviour needs to be altruistic
Consequences need to be incidental
If we act only because of the consequences, this is when altruistic judgement gets clouded.
Does the politician visiting a refugee camp on the eve of an election do it for the camp or for themselves? Seeing as their contribution can be nothing more than awareness raising, it has to be a little of both.
Motives can be diverse of course.
But when do they become deceitful? And do we care?
The hidden motives of Altruism
Altruism is selfless concern for the wellbeing of others.
Although being altruistic does, in itself, reflect well on the person being selfless. So can it even be said to exist? I suppose that true altruism is unspoken, unseen and unmentioned. It’s the person who gives to charity and doesn’t tell anyone.
Hidden motives are often not so hidden.
Altruism should be driven by empathy and compassion, no strings attached. So when we can see strings, we get suspicious.
To an extent, that’s what my job is all about. It’s about looking for the strings.
When a person speaks the truth, their demeanour is very different to when they speak a lie… or an uncertainty… or an embellishment.
Human motivation plays a massive part in everything we do, every day. It’s perfectly natural. We know, as social beings, what kind of person we need to be in any given situation. But if that version of us isn’t naturally achieved, then it has to be falsely created and that’s very hard to maintain. The mask will slip eventually and the motivation behind altruism will come to the surface.
Motivation –> behaviour –> consequence.
When you employ someone to look after your multi-million pound investments, or your precious children, you need to be certain.
Motivations need to be pure – the person is there to do a job for you
Behaviour needs to be altruistic – the benefit of their action needs to be for you
Consequences need to be incidental – any praise/commendation/self-benefit they receive needs to be a bonus rather than an expectation.
The ‘doing’ is a reward in itself.
That’s the job after all.
No strings.
Regular interview techniques have never been designed to look at motivation – behaviour – consequence… and have never been designed to find the strings that make a person get out of bed in a morning.
Dr Jon Dowd Ltd interview techniques are purely designed to protect HNWI’s against staffing misjudgements, by finding the truth behind their words.
Speak to Jon any time.
- Monday, October 31, 2016
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