Motivation-based Interviewing: A Revolutionary Approach to Hiring the Best

by Carol Quinn

When an obstacle or an undesirable situation blocks one’s path, it’s the attitude that “I can succeed anyway” that creates a sense of power that we can shape the outcome into what we want it to be. This is called perceived control. One’s attitude can either give us a sense of power or take it away from us. Perceived control is invisible to most people most of the time. We can’t see whether we have it or not. We don’t see what we do with it—we don’t even think about it, because it’s become habitual behavior. We don’t equate trying or not trying with our thoughts about perceived control. Typically, we don’t associate our successes and failures with how much power and control we feel we either have or lack. In fact, it’s much easier to analyze someone else’s perceived control than it is to see our own. Having knowledge about perceived control does not make it easier for a person to see their own power or to recognize when it’s been relinquished. Recognizing one’s power takes intent, conscious effort, and introspection. One cannot fake a sense of perceived control by merely having knowledge on the topic. That’s good news for interviewers, because it means you will be able to see your candidate’s perceived control. Control is a very interesting topic. With control comes responsibility. Taking control of something means accepting responsibility for the outcome, good or bad. Many people don’t like taking control because they are unwilling to take responsibility for their failures.