Team self motivation for new leaders

Motivation levels in teams are a feature and consequence of culture. Team culture is an evolving human and social dynamic. As this stems from within, so it cannot be wilfully changed from above or outside. So, can you motivate a team? Or change a culture?

Long walks with children will seldom follow a straight line where we want them to go. Occasional nudging, accepting they will go this way then that, is a more likely approach to get through to where you planned to be.

Raising three sons taught me well. I often refused to shift into 'tell-mode', to 'motivate' them to study or work. That would of course be mobilising and not motivating, or the very most it could be called is mentoring. As their coach, my role was to help them learn to make good choices, to discover their own self-motivation. Eventually they did.

Does that mean I can't motivate my team?

Yes... and No... Of course your influence can and does contribute. But understand that you are only one person, in a group of perhaps 30, 50 or a hundred others. Then add their families, and friends, and external influences on top of that. Soon you understand that your direct impact has a lot of competition.

Of the many techniques you can use in this field (e.g. 'team-building ra ra' events, or shared learning tackling tough issues), I'll focus on a few ideas that strike me as being powerful; not only at work but elsewhere in life too.

1. Who gets the most 'influencing air-time'?
2. What is their nature, a 'builder' or a 'depleter'?
3. Whose influence do you amplify and reinforce?
4. Can you affect how people interpret and process these various influencers?

Air-time, and 'Disney' positivity propaganda

In the USA there is a positivity propaganda engine second to none. The impression this creates, reinforces a perceived national culture, which thrives on aspiration, positivity and vibrant personalities.

The effect is viral motivation.

I recall an international seminar, where the facilitator asked each delegate to introduce themselves and how they were feeling about being there. When it reached a 23 year old American she said "my name is Alice, and I'm on fire, I think this is absolutely awesome, and I'm stoked". He went on to the next delegate, from the Netherlands, who said "I'm Peter, how am I feeling?, not bad, but to be honest I'm not sure why I'm here or what I will gain from it".

Now I'm not suggesting one is more motivated than the other, I don't know. Nor is it clear who will learn more from the seminar. What is clear though, is that the former, in all her brashness, will build the positives before the negatives entered the room. The latter, will urge people to deplete and emphasise the negatives. This is useful to know.

Be aware of who is dominating the air-time in your environment. Understand their type.

Always build up. Never deplete, the world can take care of that for you

Malcom Gladwell, in his book Blink, claimed one can observe whether couples will succeed or fail within a few seconds of interaction. Expand his thinking to relationships of all kinds, at work too, and you will see that Malcolm's theory has legs.

If a girl/boyfriend tries to deplete her/his partner's confidence or self-worth, "bringing him/her down a notch", that is a sign of trouble to come. If a boy/girlfriend builds up his/her partner, boosting and promoting her/his qualities, that is a good thing. The latter 'builder' traits should be instinctive. So, if 'depleter' traits show up, then that person is showing either thinly veiled disdain, or deep-seated insecurity.

The same is true in attitudes and behaviours people show towards employees, extended family, sports teams, work groups and companies. All of these groups incentivise people to support and reinforce, but so often our behaviour is to criticise and deplete. The effect can be an infectious destructive process, or conversely it can be a success booster.

The world has a habit of teaching us lessons and putting us in our place, so we don't need a manager, colleague, relative or life-partner doing that too. These human 'builder' or 'depleter' behaviours are precursors to motivation or demotivation; success or failure.

Be aware of who are the 'builders' and who are the 'depleters'. Form a handling strategy.

The Admirals Cabal - positive legend

Two young officer cadets in the Royal Dutch Navy ended training, just barely achieving middle-of-the-road results. They met before taking their respective posts after receiving their officers commissions, to discuss their futures. It was important that nobody should associate them as friends, so that their opinions would be taken as unbiased. They promised that in future, whenever an opportunity arose, they would bring up the name of the other officer, as being an exemplar in various fields.

And so it went over the years: "This other young officer I knew had such strategic vision, I admired him greatly", or "I was only the second best team leader at officers training, but this other young officer was the greatest leader I've known", and so on; soon a self-perpetuating legend emerged. (sample photo only)

These two young officers continued with this in good faith, until several years later they each were promoted, and they became the two youngest Admirals in the Royal Dutch Navy's history. This pact became known as The Admirals Cabal.

People need to hear the 'builders' more than 'depleters'. Make sure you amplify them.

Data, Information, Insight, Wisdom

The ideal situation is when your people reach a state of mind, where they search out and echo the behaviour of 'builders'. They understand the negative performance impact and personal effect of allowing 'depleters' to influence them. They naturally process 'depleter' behaviour, and encourage perpetrators to change their attitudes towards the positive. This creates motivational anti-bodies in the system.

If you identify keen influencers in your business, then teach them techniques to achieve this in their teams or with their colleagues. Coach your management team to be coaches.

You should know that you, and other senior coaches, cannot tell people what they should think, what they should do, or how they should do it. If you want to work that way, then call yourself a manager or a mentor, because you're not coaching.

Think of the manager as being similar to a parent raising pre-pubescent children, where you need to feed them with rules and instructions. As a mentor, think of guiding people through their early teens, when it's correct to give them the right answers, so that they get the information they need and can choose, either to do it or not.

As a coach we will spend time with mature people to discuss helpful and productive behaviours, and also to discuss the opposite. We will listen to understand whether they agree, and uncover what attitudes or personal issues that they believe prevent them. If they disagree we will listen to learn and have an open mind to change our opinion. We will help them discover what they need to do when they decide to move towards a better way. We will show commitment to them at a personal level, without judgment, to help them succeed.

Self-fulfilling prophecy of success

In a motivational team environment 'builders' have more cultural influence than 'depleters' do; managers become coaches for their people; people recognise the personal value of being 'builders' in every aspect of their lives; teams begin to handle difficulties, projects and their business objectives differently, because they believe they can win.

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(NB photograph of Dutch Naval Officers - these are not the officers referred to in the article as Admirals Cabal... this is just a nice photo of two senior Dutch Navy Officers)