Try, try and try again

That is how you win a game.

That, and with a few Daniel Carter kicks.

Saturday’s Rugby World Cup win by New Zealand’s All Blacks is a rich(ie) (I can’t help it!) stomping ground for sports mad metaphors and lessons for leadership and team development.

Here’s a starter for 6.

Creating the right environment:  “All Blacks are created by the system and environment, not just when they pull on the jersey”. From the grassroots level at school, through to the provinces and to the top team, development is coordinated, talent is nurtured and coaches consistently share knowledge. 

Leadership:  Captain Richie McCaw and Coach Steve Hansen embody what Good to Great author Jim Collins called Level 5 leaders. Leaders whose extreme personal humility blends paradoxically with intense professional will.  Richie is the most capped test rugby player of all time and since his debut in 2001 he has led by example both on and off the field.  

Strength based:   All shapes and sizes have a place in the game of rugby.  For instance, there is the fast winger who typically scores tries, the tall lock who can rise above them all in the line out, the beefy prop who will power it in the scrum.  Each has their own role to play but equipped with a deep understanding of the game, organisational capacity and the ability to communicate,  All Blacks are extra clever in flexing to intuitively find opportunities.

Simple excellence:  They are constantly perfecting their technical skills and tactics – and they balance this with keeping things simple. 

Body and mind connection:   What gives them the edge is their physical and mental fitness.   They are superbly fit, as rigorous in exercise as they are in mental skills training to stay focused and resilient.

Persistence:  After their World Cup winning debut in 1987, it took them 24 years to win back the Webb Ellis trophy even if they were always mooted as favourites. Watching them play the game as a relentless eighty minutes, moment by moment applying pressure on their opponents reflects their persistence at a larger scale in that they are now the only team to win the World Cup back to back.  In the words of American writer James Whitcomb Riley “continuous, unflagging effort, persistence and determination will win. Let not the man be discouraged who has these”.

images: telegraph.co.uk

Cutting to the chase on motivation

Recently I was part of a team delivering a webinar to a leadership group on motivation.

Given the short intensive nature of webinars, the pressure was on to get to the point.

So in an attempt to capture the essence of motivational thinking, and speaking to our audience’s scientific preferences, combined with my affinity for alliteration, we presented the key drivers of motivation as:

• Autonomy:  our wish to be free, independent, to live our own life, make our own decisions, use our own judgement.
• Affiliation:  our desire to connect, have relationships, belong, couple with others
• Achievement:  our drive to succeed, overcome challenges and be masterful in what we do whatever that is.         
• A Purpose: our need to know our effort and energy signifies something and that we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves.

But if we really wanted to cut to the chase, we could have simply said...

Framing it in these simple terms reminds us of our humanness, our realness.  It jolts us back to the realisation that we are inherently disposed to high levels of motivation because of these fundamental human drivers.  We want to feel some control over our lives, be loved, and do our best. To matter.    Leaders can often forget this.

Each person has their own individual motivations. Our mix of these 4 key drivers depends on personality, culture, environment and context. As leaders, it is important to tune our antennae to notice what motivates us and what motivates those we lead. 

With the fragility of the human ego it doesn’t take much for us to lose a bit of motivation.  Conversely with the strength of the human spirit, it does not take much for us to regain it. 

As leaders we can take small actions to help with the latter, such as:

• Freedom:  let go of the controls and delegate;  share information freely with others;  accept people for who they are not what you want them to be
• Love:  appreciate, recognise and show gratitude towards people; get them together; encourage collaboration; talk about shared values
• Success: give people the best opportunity to shine by matching their skills with the task; help them set compelling goals;  cultivate a culture of learning and mastery
• Making a difference: help people understand how they contribute to the vision; give them ‘whole tasks’ so they can get the big picture and maximise the difference they make.

 

Here’s to freedom, love, success and making a difference.

Resources:

Image via google images

Ariely, Dan (2012) What makes us feel good about our work, TEDxRiodelaPlata https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work

Pink, Dan (2010) RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Lane4 (2010), What’s motivating you? A current look at motivation in the workplace, White Paper

McClelland, D (1961), The Achieving Society, Free Press

Deepening the reflection on PASCUF....

In my last posting, I presented a 4 box model to ‘up the ante’ on your team discussions.    One leader I presented it to, came up with the acronym – PASCUF. Another asked for additional questions to help deepen the reflection on those fundamental questions:

• What are we most passionate about?
• What do we most struggle with?
• What are we curious about?
• What are our fears? 

So based on that feedback, I offer some questions for stimulation.

Like any good coaching conversation though, what is important is what happens in the actual conversation, where the discussion flows through deep listening and courageous questioning.   That is true whether it is a conversation with ourselves or others!

But here is a starter for ten.

What are we most passionate about?

What do we get energised by?

What do we love?

What absorbs our attention?

What do we contribute most to?

What do we most want to be known for?

What brings us deep satisfaction?

What do we dream to do/achieve/be?

What are we proud of?

Where do we exceed expectations?

What brings us alive?

What do we struggle with?

Where do we get stuck?

What seems to be repeating but not improving?

What do we avoid noticing?

What blocks us from being our best?

What irritates/frustrates us?

What don’t we seem to ‘crack’?

What can’t we be bothered to fix/challenge/discuss?

Who/what is getting in the way?

What seems impossible?

What grinds us down?

What are we curious about?

What sparks our interest?

What would we benefit from knowing more about?

Where is the ‘unknown’ for us?

What are we discovering?

What conversations are we not having?

What do we need to explore within/out there?

What is the big question we need to ask ourselves/others?

What is so obvious we can’t see it?

Who would we love to talk to?

What is ‘stirring’ within us?

What are our fears?

                        

What are we scared might happen?

What makes us anxious about the future?

What don’t we want?

What would be our ‘worst nightmare’?

What don’t we want to admit?

What is it that we don’t want others to know?

What frightens us most?

What do we lose sleep over?

What don’t we like in ourselves/others?

What is it we think we can’t handle?

What questions will you ask?

Sources: 4 box model adopted from Nilsson, W  and Paddock T (2014) Social Innovation from the Inside Ou t http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/social_innovation_from_the_inside_out

Thanks Pascal and Rachel for the extra inspiration.