Pedal Pedagogy: Leadership Means Harnessing Drive

As a guitar player, I'm obsessed with "gear." Instruments, amps, effects pedals... you name it, I want it. Read on for the latest installment in my series discussing what I find to be unconventional, yet apt, analogies between classic guitar effects pedals and timeless leadership concepts.

In 1964, when The Kinks' Dave Davies cut the cone on his amplifier's speaker with a razor blade in a fit of anger, neither he nor anyone else knew that the result would be the birth of an entirely new paradigm for the electric guitar. But anyone who heard the fiery tone opening the band's hit single, You Really Got Me, knew that music had been forever changed.

Davies had inadvertently discovered "overdrive"- the effect that occurs when the strength of the guitar signal eclipses what the amp is able to handle. It goes by many names- "distortion" or "break-up" to name a couple- but most of us know it by the visceral feeling it gives when certain songs feel like they are kicking into high gear. Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit? The Hotel California solo? Basically anything by Metallica? You're hearing some overdrive. And one classic overdrive pedal is the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, which simulates that amp being pushed, even at lower volumes.

The TS9 serves as a great metaphor for what many leaders struggle with- how to truly elevate their team members' performance. There are of course myriad factors and tools to investigate, but one of the core pillars we at Abilitie teach in our Becoming and Effective Manager program is that understanding #motivation is table stakes. In other words, leaders must be able to harness their team members' #drive to accomplish their goals.

Why is this so difficult? The first challenge is that motivators are unique to every individual we work with, even within the same job function or role. And as we are conditioned to follow the #goldenrule and treat others like we want to be treated, we tend to assume that others doing a similar job are motivated by the same things that motivate us. There are countless models of motivation out there (check out Hertzberg's Two-Factor Theory or Daniel Pink to name a couple) and I'm not going to push one over another here; what is instead important is taking the time to discover what motivates your team members. And if you're having trouble sleuthing this out, the good news is you can simply ask! Having that conversation not only serves your understanding, but is a great way to build trust between you and your team.

Once you have an understanding of motivators, a leader must look for ways to connect them to the work- whether it is the day-to-day or #stretchassignments. Perhaps a team member is motivated by exposure to senior leaders; highlighting that the new project includes the opportunity to interview executive stakeholders may enhance their #engagement in the task. Maybe they enjoy being viewed as an expert by their peers, and asking them to train the team on a new process will light a fire within.

There's a caveat however, just as there is with the TS9. If you crank the "Drive" knob all the way up, you might end up with a less-than-pleasing, highly distorted, ear-piercing tone. Similarly, if you push too hard and for too long on what you believe to be your team members' motivators, you ignore the fact that motivators change over time, and there can be diminishing returns. The key is find the right balance, where their drive is "smooth and musical"; they are in a zone where they are successful but not always comfortable, and they continue to learn and grow. Too much drive and you risk a speaker blowout... or a human #burnout.

So, the next time you're hearing a guitar that is cutting perfectly through the mix, that doesn't sound too harsh but contains a gritty quality that adds that extra "oomph" to the song, remember that just because overdrive was discovered by accident doesn't mean you shouldn't be intentional in harnessing what motivates your team members.

I think Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, whose signature sound includes two Tube Screamers (see photo above) set to varying levels for different use cases, would agree: Sometimes you need to push someone hard to help them achieve their goal, and sometimes just a touch of drive - applied in the right way and at the right time - will make all the difference.