German General von Manstein about Agile

Fifth principle of Agile Manifesto says: 

"Build projects around motivated individuals. 
Give them the environment and support they need, 
and trust them to get the job done."

Before you build a project or to be more specific a team, you have to choose 'motivated individuals'. Above rule is just a general guideline, not telling you anything how to do it. So the question, related to the way of choosing motivated people, remains open and is somewhat worrisome, as we still do not have a simple and clear protocol how to do it. 
To be fairly honest, it is always hard to give one, neat and concise rule describing what to do. However, instead of that I will quote German's general, von Manstein of the German Officer Corps, rule to be used as a tool for choosing motivated employees. 
Von Manstein used to divide his soliders into four groups:

1. Lazy and stupid - leave them alone, as they are doing no harm
2. Hardworking and intelligent - they would be an excellent staff officers, they can ensure that every detail is properly introduced and considered
3. Lazy and intelligent - these are people suited for the highest office
4. Hardworking and stupid - they are a menace, who should be fired at once, as they create and add irrelevant work for everybody aka "cannon fodder"

The rule is rigid and acute not living any space for people being in between.
It is not the most detailed approach, however we can leverage its features, anyway. It can be treated more like a filter, rather than just a simple rule. It gives us some view on who we should avoid. It also tells us about rough activities and positions people may hold.
It is not the best rule allowing you to choose 'motivated individuals' , but it is definitely the very first step on that path. 

The Pareto Principle
It's also worth to know Pareto Principle, which says: 

"80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts".

It means that you need to work hard to identify 20% of things you do, which generate 80% of what you do. In other words, this principle teaches us how to be lazy and not to fall into the activity trap. Be honest with yourself, nobody cares how busy you are, they just do care what you produce. You don't have to work hard. It's better to decide, what NOT to do, so that you have more time for valuable 20% of your core activities, which gives you 80% of return of your time investment (ROI).

Self Assesment
So what you can do now, is to assess your position against von Manstein and Pareto principles and see where you are. Sometimes it might be very painful process, but definitely it's worth doing that. If you are finding yourself too low in hierarchy and you are willing to pull yourself up a bit try below clues:

• Don’t try to keep all people happy all the time
• Have a work plan managing your time
• Practice saying “no”
• Don't stuck in one square, say Smart and Hardworking. Try to improve yourself, change your character, so that you will be eligible for another square: Smart and Lazy. Train your laziness in an intelligent and smart way.