The Alchemy of Growth: Combining Motivations and Value, with a twist

When it comes to personal development, I’ve often felt like we’re stuck in an endless cycle of trying to convince people it’s worth their time. For years, organizations have been pulling every trick in the book:

• Urging people to develop themselves, sometimes with a tone of urgency or even fear (“You’ll become obsolete if you don’t!”).

• Flooding employees with resources (“Look, you have access to all this amazing content!”).

• Training managers to have structured development conversations, hoping they’ll spark something in their teams.

• And becoming super-efficient (“only 3 questions, 4 times a year”)

But here’s the thing: these tactics don’t always land. In fact, real self-driven personal development only seems to happen in two scenarios:

1. When someone is deeply motivated, with a clear sense of direction.

2. When there’s a significant external driver, like a regulatory requirement or the risk of losing a license.

I learned this the hard way during my time at DCS. Like many others, we thought we could “orchestrate” personal development. We built processes efficient and polished that it would be impossible for anyone not to engage. And guess what? It still didn’t work.

Our seasoned construction engineers—experts whose experience was worth its weight in gold—weren’t interested in exploring new areas of development. They loved what they did and didn’t see a need to do more. Meanwhile, the graduate engineers who joined us were brimming with curiosity, eager to absorb knowledge from those with years in the role and grow.

This gave rise to something simple but powerful: a mentorship program. Suddenly, development wasn’t about ticking a box or following a process—it was about connecting people with complementary needs and motivations. The experienced engineers found a way to contribute without stepping out of their comfort zone, while the graduates soaked up their knowledge like sponges and developed further then imagined. It worked because it was real. It addressed needs and created value for everyone involved. It still needed orchestration, but out of a meaningful interest and value.

I’ve seen this dynamic play out in other industries too. In financial services, highly experienced professionals were often reluctant to invest in their growth, while junior employees dived headfirst into learning opportunities, hungry to move into leadership roles.

And watch out from false eagerness. Wanting to upskill & develop and taking meaningful actions are not the same. 

A new approach to personal development as a strategic “lever”

Reflecting on these experiences, here’s what I believe we’ve been missing and how to address the gaps today:

1. People Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All. When we treat personal development as a blanket solution (process, not content), we miss the opportunity to create meaningful impact. Instead, we need to understand the different personas in our organizations. A persona can a combination of demographic and motivation to develop self, when motivation is the key element. Here are some examples of personal we come across often: Practical Pat- Wants to do their job well and be left alone. They value efficiency and practicality over personal growth unless it directly impacts their current role; Curious Casey - Constantly eager to learn, grow, and improve. They are intrinsically motivated and see learning to unlock new opportunities. Strategic Sam - Willing to invest in learning for a specific reason, such as a promotion, a role change, or a certification. They need a clear "why" behind their effort.

There is no right or wrong but an acknowledgment that to make development a sustainable lever, you must understand motivation, deeply.

1. Be Honest About Development Enabled Business Priorities. Not all development is created equal. If certain skills are critical to your business’s success, they should be addressed at a manageable pace, and broader facilitation is required. Upskilling in these areas needs to be a clear expectation tied to roles, not a “nice-to-have” motivation dependant.

2. Time is a commodity we can’t control Lets stop talking about development in units if time spent. It is impossible to win an argument with those that might not be interested, and it dilutes the message.

3. Time to Set a new Bar for leadership? Imagine a world when becoming a line manager required demonstrating specific skills at a threshold level —like gaining a driving license. How would that transform engagement, performance, and culture.

4. Start the Conversation During Hiring. Depending on how development plays as a strategic lever in your organization and industry, instead of simply showcasing what we offer (“Here’s our menu of learning resources”), we should also set a clear direction from hiring stage. For example: “In your role, we expect a 30% automation within the coming years. That means you will need to adapt to certain AI tools by upskilling regularly alongside your work”.

By “correlating” personas with needs organizations can do one of two things: get super strategic about how to achieve the right level of capabilities with specific needs and motivations in mind, or let go of the low value efforts and processes to convince some people to do something they are not interested in.

Limor