There are only two types of motivation, according to Gavin Freeman, psychologist and onetime adviser to Australian Olympic teams. People are either motivated to succeed or motivated to avoid failure. Those who are motivated to succeed will learn the lessons of any failure they encounter and put them to good use in the future. Those motivated to avoid failure will back away when things start to go wrong and do whatever they can to avoid being blamed. The result will be mediocrity. Gavin Freeman says it's important to test people thoroughly in the recruiting process - a CV and a single interview is not enough. And managers must watch for the warning signs of a change in motivation when people are moved out of their comfort zone. Support and encouragement will do much more to produce results than warnings of dire consequences if they get things wrong.
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