Developing People: Enabling Your Colleagues to Succeed

Developing your people means getting individuals to perform at their best. This is a complex skill, and leaders often fall short because they fail to understand just how challenging it is. Three factors affect success. First, understanding what motivates an individual to act – this is fundamental to engaging that person and focusing their efforts. Motives can be conscious, semi-conscious or sub-conscious. Motives can also be mixed, with several clustered around a primary motive. The second factor is to understand the external environment. Different influences, such as the needs of the team or the desire to avoid a difficult situation later, need to be understood. Finally, your leadership skills and especially your own levels of self-motivation are a key element in motivating others.