Bill Toppeta, president of MetLife International, told the Fordham Leadership Forum, “What you need to know as the leader is what motivates your people, not what motivates you.”

To bring this philosophy into reality, here is the simple, yet revealing exercise Toppeta uses: He hands out a questionnaire to managers and their direct reports. The manager ranks the items on the page in the order of what she believes most and least stirs her direct reports’ passions. At the same time, the direct report also ranks the items on the list. The lists are compared and then dialogue ensues.

Toppeta says that, for the most part, managers do horribly on this exercise. They think they know what their people are passionate about, but they don’t.

But, of course, that is the point. And as the insuing dialogues take place, people get to know each other as people, not simply as functions that help the department make its numbers every quarter. And best of all, it is the very essence of employee engagement. Individuals in the workforce have a voice in where they can best make their personal contribution to the company.

And talk about a “win-win” situation. The outcome of marrying personal passions to organizational goals breeds deeper job satisfaction for employees and more profits for the company.