From Chapter 1: Far too many people are casting about in confusion for what would make them more successful and happier at work. Far too many able, intelligent people know they're not as productive or motivated as they could be day-to-day, while some are actually de-motivated--with aspects of their work that are in direct opposition to what drives them. That's not good for individuals, and it's certainly not good for their managers or organizations either. Turn the mirror upon yourself. Most days at work, are you doing what truly motivates you? Or back up: Before now, have you taken the time to reflect on what fuels your fire on the job, what matters most to you? What are you doing, exactly, on those days when you are excited and energized in your work, when you have that proverbial skip in your step? Only when we identify those unique drivers can we begin to chip away what constrains us and unleash our full potential, our best ideas, and our productive power. Only then can we silence the critics around us and realize happiness is not about any preconceived notion of what should be meaningful, impressive, or logical to you. It's about aligning the work you do every day with what motivates you. We've found stories that gave us hope.

They are people among us who are deeply fulfilled by their work, who are passionate about what they do, and are energized when Monday comes. So what's their secret? In most cases they have taken control of their careers. For two decades we've worked with some of the world's most successful organizations in increasing employee engagement and team performance. Over the last decade alone we have conducted three research studies on workplace trends for our books comprising more than 850,000 interviews. What all that work has revealed is a key difference in those who are most energized on the job. What is it? Those people have aligned more of their work with their core motivations. As for those who are most unhappy, as you might expect, their jobs are out of whack with what they are passionate about. What follows in this book is a simple but empirically tested method to identify a person's blend of core motivators (from a group of 23 possibilities), figure out what disconnects there may be between their passions and their current work situation, and then work with their managers to fix it.

(FYI, this method of identifying core motivators is also helpful for students who are wrestling with what they want to do with their lives, even deciding what major to choose in college.) We call this type of modification "job sculpting." For employees the benefit of this process is obvious. But for leaders the payback can be powerful as well, as sculpting can help diagnose how each team member's specific tasks are (or are not) aligned with his motivations and uncover subtle changes that can lead to increases in team morale, engagement, and results.