Brunello Gianella · Motivational Intelligence
Motivational Intelligence It reveals the connections between motive, role, and system—and what saps people of their vitality every day.
A leadership offsite. The new strategy is agreed upon; no one objects. Six months later, half of the work hasn't even started.
The room was well-equipped. The motifs were not.
The usual answer
: more communication, more engagement, and more alignment.
The more precise question
What qualities does the role require, and what qualities does the person filling it bring to the table?
If you focus solely on behavior, you mistake the surface for its possible source. “ Motivational Intelligence ” is the ability to discern the motives underlying behavior—your own and those of others. Not as a single drive that you simply have to ignite strongly enough, but as 16 life motives, each with its own individual intensity.
It is based on the motivation research of Prof. Steven Reiss and the Reiss Motivation Profile®.
Individual
The profile describes how strong or weak each of the 16 life motives is in a person, compared to the norm. It is not a type. It is an individual profile.
Equal in value
A strong desire for curiosity is no better than a weak one. What matters is how well it fits the specific role.
Relatively stable
Life motives describe the inner goals and values that guide a person through the years.
Typologies make people easier to deal with. The Reiss Motivation Profile® turns individuality into something we can talk about.
I call it “ ESSENTIA.” Not the image others have of us. Not the role we play. But the source of our goals and values: what doesn’t need to be negotiated in order to be valuable.
This place doesn’t have to be created. It’s already there. The profile provides coordinates. The person provides meaning. WIRK.RAUM provides context.
For a person, impact begins with intention. For a room, it begins with action.
Nobody sees my intention. The room experiences what I say, decide, and do—and what I leave undone. What lies in between is no side issue. What lies in between is leadership.
B = f(P, E)
According to Kurt Lewin, behavior is a function of the individual and the environment. That is why " WIRK.RAUM " is not a place that a leader controls. It is a relationship that everyone involved continues to shape.
Unfiltered does not automatically mean genuine. At first, it is merely untranslated. The two poles of a life motive represent opposing, psychologically equal goals and values. Steven Reiss called the tendency to consider one’s own values the better ones Self-Hugging. It turns difference into judgment, and misunderstood intent into conflict.
Reading people is not value-free. It reflects values. But it must be free of judgment.
Behavior provides observations, but not yet an explanation. If you interpret it too quickly, a possible discrepancy turns into a personal shortcoming.
Leadership
“I value validation and encouragement from others.”
Team
“I value organization, predictability, and neatness.”
“I value flexibility and spontaneity.”
Strategy
“I value peacemaking, cooperation, and harmony.”
Each of these interpretations remains a hypothesis until the profile and the conversation either support or refute it.
Motivational Intelligence begins where quick judgments about people end.
The Reiss Motivation Profile® shows the individual intensity of the 16 life motives relative to the norm. No typology, no pigeonholes: just coordinates.
This interpretation distinguishes observable behavior from its possible motivational source. Behavior that appears the same does not necessarily stem from the same motive.
A number doesn't tell you anything about a person. Only a person's life story, circumstances, and conversations reveal the meaning and intensity that a situation has taken on in real life.
The reading connects motive, role, and WIRK.RAUM. It shows where energy flows, where adaptation takes its toll, and where differences lead to friction.
The number prevents guesswork. Reading prevents judgment. Dialogue prevents presumption.
What this is not
We don’t start by asking, “What’s wrong with this person?” We ask, “What haven’t we understood yet?”
A reading doesn't tell you who you are. It shows you the perspective from which you view the world. And why others can see the same world in a completely different way.
Once you can read people, you no longer need to make them up.
06 / Motivational Intelligence Advocate · Mentor
I’ Brunello Gianella. For more than forty years, I worked on change initiatives with CEOs, owners, and leadership teams, most recently under the name CEO-CODE®. Then I stepped away from my role as a consultant. Today I’m a mentor, not a coach.
I learned the Reiss Motivation Profile® from Prof. Steven Reiss in Columbus, Ohio—directly from the founder of the method. I have been working with it for more than twenty years. The " Motivational Intelligence " is what emerged from both of these experiences: a more precise understanding of motives, roles, and systems.
I live and work in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. My book (in German): When Sneakers Don't Help.
Experience gained from working with
“His professionalism, creativity, and boundless joy of discovery make every project unique.”
“In-depth thought leadership and the ability to communicate complex concepts very clearly.”
They improve because others are allowed to disagree.
I post on LinkedIn every day: about motivation, leadership, work, and the systems that are quick to blame people. And I respond. For me, content isn't just a one-way channel. It's the start of a conversation.
I no longer sell software or send invoices.
I pass on what I have: experience, tacit knowledge, and insights gained from forty years of working with people in positions of responsibility. Provided that the person, the relationship, the topic, and the challenge are right. Whether they are is up to me.
One-on-one
A leadership decision, a role, a conflict that won’t be resolved. We examine the motives at play—yours and those of others.
Over time
For people who work on a single issue over an extended period: roles, staffing, culture. No set curriculum. Conversations as needed.
It always starts the same way: with an espresso.
09 / Virtual Espresso
This isn't a sales pitch. You share an observation from your everyday life. I'll explore with you what might lie beneath it.