Motivating People: One of High School's Lasting Lessons

03/06/07

There’s one in every senior class, the star athlete who seems to have it all. My class’s Mr. Triple Threat — I’ll call him Jack — hoped to go to college. But without a scholarship, his chances were slim to none. Then a rumor started circulating that a major university scout would attend one game anonymously to check him out. The football coach would neither confirm nor deny this; he wanted his players to give their best effort in every game.

Well, the scout saw Jack play and went away unimpressed. Afterward, when the coach told him the scout had been in the stands, Jack was furious. He was certain he would have played better if the coach had tipped him off. That knowledge would have supplied an added incentive to play his absolute best.

Was the coach wrong not to put a bug in his ear? I’m not so sure.

“Our character,” said Jackson Browne, “is what we do when we think no one is looking.” The same could be said of motivation, too. I always suspected that Jack’s coach wanted him to showcase more than his natural athletic prowess. He also wanted him to demonstrate his motivation as well, by playing up to his full potential no matter who might be in the audience.

Managers could employ that same philosophy when they’re faced with tough and sometimes unpleasant HR decisions, such as who should be promoted or laid off or given the highest pay raise or year-end bonus. Employees who only perform above par when they’re being watched don’t need supervisors. They need monitors. And few bosses have time for that.

So when you’re trying to assess people’s motivation, ask yourself this question: Which workers seem inspired to excel even when they think nobody’s watching? Identify and reward those who don’t need much looking after — those who are committed to doing their best whether they’re under surveillance or not.

From the locker room to the conference room, that’s the attitude that makes a winner.