So how can leaders develop these skills? There’s no magic bullet solution unfortunately, but awareness—inward and outward—is key. That means not only attempting to understand yourself more deeply and being more mindful in your actions and interactions, but also taking the time to do the same for your team members while learning to recognize cues, both visual and verbal. In short, it takes a lot of time and effort, and a lot of trial and error.
One of the reasons we created Attuned was to save leaders and managers some of this time and effort and remove the guesswork in these areas.

Attuned’s Intrinsic Motivator Report (Click the image to see the full report)
Firstly, self-awareness: by taking the Attuned Intrinsic Motivator Assessment, managers (and their team members) can see instantly which drives and values are most important to them, and then use that information for self-reflection.
Secondly, self-regulation: armed with the data-driven knowledge of what truly motivates us, we can be more honest in our assessment of our behavior and processes. And by understanding ourselves better, and gaining greater clarity around the values that underpin everything we do, we can be more mindful of our actions and interactions with others—and ultimately control these better.
Thirdly, motivation: as well as making each person’s intrinsic motivators visible, Attuned also allows managers to see how engaged their team members are through regular pulse surveys, and recommends actions to motivate individuals and teams more effectively.
Fourthly, empathy: to be truly empathetic requires understanding, not just of what motivates other people, but also how those different motivations can manifest. By having a clear view of team members’ values, supported by an abundance of tips and suggested actions that help to explain how people who score highly for each motivator view the world, leaders can immediately put themselves in the shoes of people who they might otherwise have spent months (or even years) trying to figure out.
And lastly, social skills: while Attuned isn’t going to bestow effortless charm and unerring intuition on every user, it does make conflict resolution a much less daunting challenge. Using the Interpersonal Motivator Gaps feature, managers can identify areas in which any two team members have polar-opposite values. This in turn allows them to communicate more effectively, and more empathetically, by first recognizing the points of contrast, and then developing a common language that can be used to bridge the gaps.