Generally speaking, people want to not only do good but also excel to realise the best of their knowledge and capabilities. They just need that motivation to do so.
Good management and leadership is all about facilitating that natural desire within individuals and teams to perform well.
Unfortunately all too often we witness the opposite happen. Individuals and policies actually demotivate and provide numerous hurdles to good performance.
Some years ago my head of engineering Mr. Pange and I discussed and adopted his suggestion and detailed engineering proposal to save our company a great deal of money while also improving quality, by adopting some process and tooling changes.
As I gazed upon this unassuming man with amazement and respect, I said, "We are lucky to have you on our team. I am sure you must have saved your previous employer a lot of money and overcome many challenges? I wonder, why did they ever let you leave?"
He replied "Sir, not even a single rupee, in spite of working there for many years."
"Why?" I asked incredulously.
He said, "Early my career wit them, I presented my boss with a proposal to reduce costs and improve both productivity and quality of several of the high demand products. But not only did he refuse to listen. "**Did I ask you for your opinion? If I want your opinion, I will give it to you.**"
It was the first and last time I ever made a suggestion to my bosses, until I joined you and you mandated 'continuous improvement' as a part of my job responsibilities and outputs"
Maybe, its just a coincidence, but a few years later the previous employer of Mr. Pange went out of business.
