Two Leadership Acts That Drive Teammates to Give More
I spoke to two NCAA athletes about their effort in a recent competition: one, a football player, and the other, a swimmer. The football player was a defensive lineman who admitted to me he gave a less than stellar effort in last weekend’s game. The swimmer was a female sprinter, a relay team member whose effort in the last leg of a race edged out her competitor to win the meet. When I asked about why they’d given the effort they had, their answers were telling. The lineman said he felt he’d done a fair job, but knew he had two All-Americans on the line with him who were more capable of doing the “heavy lifting.” The swimmer said she made an extra effort because she knew her teammates were “counting on me.”
Why Do Some Teams Raise Motivation and Others Drain It?
Why does one person let his team down, while another sacrifices even more? Believe it or not, teamwork is motivating for some, but demotivating for others. How come? The answer lies both in how we are hardwired and the environment in which we work.
In America, we’ve all heard the acronym for “team”: Together Everyone Accomplishes More.” In German, one acronym for “team” is: “Great. Someone else will do it.” Psychologists have a term for people who reduce their effort when they team up with others: “social loafing.” The idea that working on a team can lead people to give less effort is the target of much psychological study. Researchers from the Ohio State University suggested in 1979 that ‘social loafing can be regarded as a kind of social disease’. It lets teammates down and reduces their chance to win. We might assume working together would raise a team member’s effort due to accountability. While it does for many, it doesn’t for some. Research from the University of Florida argues that teamwork represents a social dilemma, in which people must choose between two options:
What is best for the team (sacrificing to gain effective team performance)
What is best for themselves (withholding effort to save resources).
What teammates choose to do depends on how coaches lead their teams.
Two Key Factors to Coach for Teamwork
Leading teams well is all about understanding behavioral science. There are two crucial factors to getting the most out of teammates: perception of dispensability and pulling triggers.
The Perception of Dispensability
When people who serve on a team perceive their own work as dispensable—it doesn’t make a meaningful contribution to the performance of a team—they tend to show less effort than they would when working alone. It’s a psychological perception. These people feel their effort is not needed as much as others’ effort and it makes sense to save their energy. On the other hand, when a person is convinced that what they do is tied to the big picture goal and it makes a stark difference in the overall outcome, they’ll give mammoth effort. They feel their work is indispensable. In the first, their work feels redundant. In the other, it feels meaningful. The four most motivating words in the world are: “You make a difference.” The six most depressing words in the world are: “You really don’t make a difference.”
In the story above, the football lineman knew he had a job, but felt his effort was not nearly as important as the two All-American athletes he stood next to on the line of scrimmage. In the case of the swimmer, she gave “extra mile” effort for her teammates. Think of Kobe Bryant who continued playing after he dislocated and then relocated his finger. Think of Curt Schilling who continued pitching with a bleeding ankle in the world series. Think of the number of times a key player got injured in the playoffs, but teammates stepped up and gave extraordinary effort to win. This effort doesn’t make sense unless you understand motivation. Effective managers and coaches clearly demonstrate to each of their team members how their personal work is tied to the overall mission and absolutely indispensable to reaching the goal. They even take time to clarify what happens if that team member fails to fulfill their duty and its impact on the whole team. Our brains need this clarification to make sacrifices and endure pain.
The Pulling of Triggers
The second component to motivating team members is recognizing the different emotional triggers people possess. Not everyone is driven by the same motivators. This is why leaders can make a difference when they tap into the triggers of each player, a little like playing with pieces in a game of chess as opposed to checkers, where the pieces all move alike. You treat them differently since they’re different. For one, comparing his abilities to a teammate can be motivating, challenging him to step up his efforts; for others who perceive their abilities are so different than a teammate, it can have the opposite effect. He will never catch up so what’s the use? Great leaders remove the comparison trap and leverage triggers in each team member.
Three Triggers for Teamwork
Affiliation. This social motivation demonstrates I care for my teammates.
Results. This outcome motivation demonstrates I care deeply for the goal.
Influence. This persuasion motivation demonstrates I care to impact the team.
In short, when we recognize some are motivated by not wanting to let their teammates down, we should tap into this trigger as we communicate. For another whose motivation is primarily to reach a goal, we should focus on outcomes. And a third may have “influence motivation” which is all about having an impact on the team to reach a goal; we should talk about their influence on others. It’s important for coaches to not assume everyone can be motived the same way. We must tailor our words to the listener. The bottom line for us?
Leaders must clarify the indispensability of teammates’ assignments.
Leaders must understand and leverage their teammates’ triggers clearly.
In the end, it’s essential to move team member motivation from external to internal. Outside accountability from you is fine, but ownership of their assignment is better. When both leaders and teams perceive their individual effort as absolutely indispensable, it moves the needle. When we tap into what drives people internally, we turn the average performance into amazing. How much talent a person has is not in our control, but how much effort they give is.
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