How To Motivate Your Team Through Tough Times

As an executive coach, I’ve spent nearly 20 years working with highly successful leaders who’ve hit a bump in the road. I help these leaders get over that bump by clarifying their goals and making a plan to reach them. I work with my clients through my firm?Paravis Partners?and, with some of them, on my Harvard Business Review Presents?Coaching Real Leaders podcast, where I take you behind the closed doors of real coaching sessions. I also host the?Coaching Real Leaders Community, where an amazing group of leaders and coaches come together to take a deeper dive into the challenges of leadership. In this newsletter, I share takeaways from my many years of coaching conversations. My hope is that my efforts will help you lead (or coach) with more ease.

I recently had a Q&A session with a group of leaders and one of the participants asked: “We are in a season of lots of organizational changes, a lack of career progression opportunities through promotions and, this year, bonuses will not be that great. How do I motivate my team through difficult times like these?” This is a question that comes up a lot. As leaders, we want to keep our people motivated. Because, let’s face it, if the motivation wanes, it’s harder to get someone to the finish line. So much has been said about the topic Don’t believe me? Google “Motivation” and, bam, in 0.49 seconds you get 3.9 million results. And yet, how to motivate others remains this big mystery. Here’s the deal – it’s not that complicated.

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Let’s start with a definition of motivation. According to the Oxford Dictionary, motivation is the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. So when we ask “how do I motivate someone?” what we’re really asking is “What reason can I give them that will get them to act or behave in this particular way?”

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I was reminded of how to actualize this concept this past weekend when I attended The Race (yes, that’s the name of it) with my running group. The Race is an annual 5k/half marathon held in Atlanta. The half is one of the toughest courses I’ve ever completed because of the continuous miles of repeat hills. Especially trying is the infamous mile 12 which is one very long intimidating looking hill which you face after pounding the pavement on incline for all the miles preceding it. ?I did the half last year and opted to do the 5k this time around due to a running injury. But I knew my fellow team members who were running the half for the first time would need all the motivation they could get to make it up mile 12 hill. So a group of us gathered to help them through it. As I reflect on what it took to motivate these runners up the hill, I realized that how you motivate others doesn’t differ whether you’re in the workplace or outside of work. Here are my lessons learned on how to motivate others through tough times:

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1.?????? Meet them where they are. ?As each runner approached the mile 12 hill, we met them with enthusiasm at the bottom of the hill. We didn’t wait for them to make it up to us. We met each one where they are. And ran (or in some cases walked) next to them according to their stride. Not faster. Not slower. Everyone in your workplace experiences tough times differently. Be mindful of starting from their position, not yours.

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2.?????? Be supportive. As I ran with some up the hill, I gave them encouraging words. “You got this!” “You can do hard things! This is nothing compared to what you’ve accomplished before!” “The hill doesn’t own you. You own the hill!” were among the mantras I used to help my teammates find the little strength they had left to power up the incline. As a leader, do you use words of encouragement that demonstrate that you believe your team member can get through this time – even when they don’t believe it themselves?

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3.?????? Be directive. Sometimes encouragement is not enough. You have to coach by telling them what to do. “Little steps. On the balls of your feet. Lean into the hill. Focus on the light ahead. Breathe with each step. Pace yourself. Count every step:1-2-1-2 to the top of the hill.” By giving your team direction on where they can focus their efforts as they move through this time, it helps ease the way.

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4.?????? Give them a “why”. ?Remember – motivation is about giving a purpose to do certain things. In this case, the thing to do was crush the hill and finish the race. But everyone’s why to do so is different. For some, I said “Do it for your daughter so she can see how strong you are.” For others, it was “You trained so hard for this. Make it worth it!”. And I even used the now ubiquitous quote “You didn’t come this far just to get this far”* resulting in some laughing and crying at the same time as they battled the hill. The exact “why” doesn’t matter and it doesn’t need to be the same as yours – what matters is tapping into it. And that requires you as a leader taking the time, before the tough times hit, to understand what is that why that moves your team members to action.

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5.?????? Acknowledge that it’s tough. Please don’t fake that the tough time is not tough. That doesn’t help. One of the first things I said to those runners at the bottom of the hill is: “I know. Mile 12 sucks. I’ve been there. It’s hard. But guess what? You’re not going to do it alone.” Acknowledge that the season your team is in is not all rosy. It’s ok to admit that without being seen as pessimistic. This is where realistic optimism kicks in – as Heidi Grants writes in her HBR article “Believing that the road to success will be rocky leads to greater success because it forces you to take action”.

6.?????? Don’t do it alone. You don’t have to motivate others on your own. In fact, there’s compound energy created when you are joined by others. It wasn’t just me alone out there motivating the half marathoners on our team. It was a whole crew of us. Taking turns motivating runners up the hill one by one. And motivating each other to stay to the very end. Lean on your peers. Work with a coach. Leverage your boss. Get help motivating your team.

7.?????? Recognize the small wins. ?Don’t wait until the end to claim victory. Every step up that hill was a small win leading up to the big one at the end. Acknowledge the steps your team members are taking. Going the extra mile without extra resources. Collaborating with their peers even when it may be harder. Putting in the effort even when not being rewarded for it. People want to feel valued and know that what they are doing is worth it. Make sure to acknowledge what they’re doing no matter how small it may seem.

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8.?????? Remind them it’s not permanent. While the hill was long, I reminded each runner that on the other side of the hill was a nice active recovery downhill. The uphill would pass. It is not permanent. This was a blip. Giving your team members a broader perspective by helping them understand that it is not and will not always be like this can be helpful.

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9.?????? Make it about them, not you. As each person approached the finish line, the other supporters and I left their side so they could cross the finish line on their own. There was no need to detract from their moment of victory. As a leader, learn to make it about your team members and not about you. Motivate them up to the finish line but let them own the finish. Give your team public credit. Shine the light on what your team is doing. Give them exposure and visibility.

?10.?? Celebrate when it’s over. ?Mark the end of the tough season with celebration. You made it through! Don’t act like it’s no big deal. We had a lively gathering after the race to celebrate all the racers' hard work and, especially, teamwork it had taken to get every runner from our group across the finish line. And the next time they face a tough time, the remembrance of the celebration – how they felt after it was over -- will help them know they can get through it… no matter how steep the hill, no matter how tough it gets.

What struck me after The Race, is that what almost every runner talked about, way more than the mile 12 hill, was the motivation and support they felt from our team throughout this difficult course. ?So the next time you are faced with motivating others (or yourself) through a difficult time, don’t overcomplicate it. Focus on what’s in your control and you’ll be surprised how much you can motivate others even when the going gets tough.

*PS: This quote has been used so often and I believe credit goes to writer Matthew Reilly but I'm not absolutely sure. So if you know who to give credit to, please share!

Thank you for reading my LinkedIn newsletter! Don’t forget to listen and subscribe to Coaching Real Leaders on?Harvard Business Review,?Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. And please join me in my?Coaching Real Leaders Community, where I host members-only live Q&As, CRL episode debriefs, and more. You can also learn more about the coaching work my fantastic colleagues and I do by checking us out at?Paravis Partners.