Chapter 3
What Do Your Players Want?

Being a conductor is kind of a hybrid profession because most fundamentally, it is being someone who is a coach, a trainer, an editor, a director.

—Michael Tilson Thomas

As I started as a shy young conductor, I always wanted to cooperate. To build up the musicians. To help them to be better than without a conductor. And sometimes young talented musicians have to be encouraged.

—Kurt Masur

This book is for and about you, the manager. But there’s another side of the story—the players. You can’t do much without them.

Imagine a symphony orchestra. It’s a large group, made up of violins, violas, cellos, bass, percussion, woodwinds, brass, and sometimes more instruments. At any given concert, there might be a few featured soloists or a whole chorus performing, or a ballet as well. There’s an audience, waiting to experience something exciting and beautiful.

In front of the players, with his back to the audience, is the conductor. The conductor is responsible for getting the best performance out of the players. If he’s done his job well, he’s coached them over the previous weeks of rehearsals, so that their skills are sharp and their knowledge of the music is strong. He steers the ship, while the players make it move. What is created is synergistic—more than just notes sounding separately, music flows into the concert hall.

Looking Beyond the Paycheck

To switch metaphors from music to sports (although much of the following applies to professional musicians and other performers), professional athletes play, even when in pain, for three fundamental reasons.

1. The so-called salary drive explains why some not only play but play their best even in “meaningless” games, long after championships have been decided. They’re trying to collect impressive statistics to bring to their next contract negotiation.

2. New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio put the second reason into words when a sportswriter asked him why he continued to play after the Yankees had clinched the pennant. “Because,” DiMaggio reportedly said, “somebody might have never seen me play.” He knew he was the draw, and he didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

3. Most important, athletes are motivated by pride. They’re the best at what they do, and they want to go out and keep doing it. Even when they are paid millions to play, no matter what their win–loss record is, many of them still crave a championship win.

These three sources of motivation from the world of sports are paralleled in the business arenas. Employees want to earn tangible rewards for good performance, they don’t want to disappoint others, and they’re proud of what they do. The motives that stem from pride (a positive direction) will move them more powerfully than greed or fear ever could.

Three Drives That Motivate Your Staff

Look around at the people with whom you work every day. From the biggest go-getter to the person who just seems to be putting in time, all are motivated to some extent by three strong forces that get them up in the morning when nothing else will:

1. the desire to achieve

2. the burn to learn

3. the craving to contribute

Let’s consider what each of these motivators can teach you about how to coach for peak performance in the workplace.

The Desire to Achieve

Low self-esteem has become something of a generic diagnosis of choice for poor performance these days. To cure low self-esteem, experts have prescribed praise, and lots of it. That seems to be a good idea, in principle. But there’s a problem: Indiscriminate praise doesn’t work as a reward. If everybody gets it, praise has no value. Praise and rewards, by their very nature, must discriminate among levels of performance.

That’s not to say that self-esteem isn’t important to performance. The better an employee feels about himself and his abilities, the more likely he is to perform well. It is incredibly satisfying to know you have done a good job on something. However, if he is not confident about his skills, he will be more hesitant to stretch forward and take risks, just playing it safe and taking any failure or setback deeply to heart as “proof” of being not worth very much.

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So higher self-esteem can result in better performance. What can a coach do to promote self-esteem?

This question answers itself if we substitute a new term for “self-esteem.” Let’s talk, instead, about mastery.

Mastery comes from what you can do and how you do it, not what people say about what you can do. You achieve mastery; nobody can give it to you—or take it away from you.

People do things, in part, because they can do them. Doing them feels good. They continue to do them because they feel themselves getting even better.

Here’s an example. Seventh-grade typing class was the first place I distinguished myself in school. I won the ice cream cup most Fridays for typing faster and more accurately than anybody else in class. (There was only one ice cream cup prize. Not only was the ice cream good, it was meaningful!)

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It wasn’t really the grade or even the ice cream that motivated me. (I wanted to get good grades in my other classes, too, but that fact alone didn’t guarantee success.) It certainly wasn’t the fear of failure and the even greater fear of looking like an idiot.

I typed simply for the joy of mastering the skill. That is one of the best feelings in the world.

Achieving mastery takes several steps, which we cover here briefly. If you know these steps, you can measure your own path to mastery, as well as assess where your employees are in their growth.

1. Formulation. Before this stage, a person is not aware that there might be an area for growth. When she decides to learn a new skill, she formulates the idea. This is the notion that starts her on the path toward mastery. Until you know that you need or want a change, it won’t happen on its own!

For example, let’s say that Sharon has to give presentations at work fairly frequently. She’s comfortable with researching material and creating PowerPoint slides, but she really doesn’t like the speaking part. She gets nervous, and people don’t seem to pay attention to her. After getting feedback from coworkers and her manager, she decides that she wants to increase her public speaking skills.

2. Concentration. In the concentration phase, a person puts a lot of effort in learning and growing. Perhaps she sets aside time to learn and practice the new skill or ability. At this stage, the learner is really putting in a lot of effort, but probably not getting much return. This phase begins with high concentration (putting in a lot, hardly getting any return), and then gradually shifts to low concentration (putting in less effort, getting more of a return).

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Sharon decides to get a few books on public speaking and to check out a local Toast-masters group, which is dedicated to growing public speaking and leadership skills. She starts going to meetings every week, gets a speaking mentor, and starts developing her first presentations to the club. She reads the public speaking books and finds a few blogs online to check out for more information.

3. Momentum. In the momentum phase of mastery, the effort from the concentration phase has dropped, and the learner is getting more return on that effort. Things are building on each other, and the person is gaining confidence and feeling more natural in his use of the skill. This stage starts off with low momentum and then moves to higher momentum with more practice.

Sharon starts getting positive evaluations and compliments after a few months of attending Toastmasters meetings, and her mentor is pleased with her progress. She notices that she no longer shakes or has sweaty palms through her speeches. Her colleagues notice that she connects with them more during her work presentations; her slides are also simpler, and she has a lot more energy when she’s talking. Her speeches seem more organized and are easier to follow.

4. Stable Growth. At the stable growth stage, the person might seem to “plateau” for a while with high momentum and consistent returns. At this stage, she might seem to be consistently achieving well, but still with some effort. To break out of this stage and leap to the next, there might be a breakthrough moment of some sort.

Sharon has been regularly attending Toastmasters meetings for nine months, earning a few awards and designations along the way as she consistently gives speeches. Management has been impressed with her and asked her to write some articles based on her presentations, which she enjoys doing and finds easier than before because of her increased communication skills.

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Sharon’s breakthrough comes when her nephew announces his engagement and asks her to come up with a toast for the wedding. She surprises herself when she readily accepts, with no fear, only anticipation, and she’s already thinking of what to say to express her love and joy for the happy couple.

5. Mastery. After the breakthrough, a person reaches a state of mastery. In this state, actions in a particular skill or ability simply flow naturally, with little conscious effort. It feels natural to use these abilities, and the person usually enjoys doing so.

After a year and a half, Sharon’s confidence in speaking has reached new heights. She received many compliments on her wedding toast, and she continues to excel at her work presentations. Her manager has asked her to run meetings in his absence, now that she can confidently control the floor and direct the communications, keeping everyone on task. She gets a raise at her performance review because she has demonstrated her willingness to learn and grow, in a way that supports the whole department and company. She starts actively seeking more opportunities to speak in her community and professional groups.

The Burn to Learn

Children are born with an innate drive and ability to learn. The amount of information they absorb before ever starting school is enormous. Western education overlays a strict structure and grade system that can often choke the joy out of learning for many students.

Achievers learn in school to work for the external reward of the grade (and thus, a higher GPA and perhaps better chance of going on to a good college). In fact, many lose the capacity to understand whether they’ve performed well unless somebody tells them so. This can really throttle the desire to learn, as people begin to wonder “why bother?” if they don’t get a grade (or don’t get a good one). Also, students naturally become focused on getting a good grade (or doing well on a standardized test) rather than on learning something.

The underachievers are also damaged by grades. They learn to hate grades, teachers who hand out grades, standardized tests, and the kids who do well. Some learn to actively resist learning anything—even by accident, even for their own good.

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What’s your favorite pleasure read? Some of us pick up Sports Illustrated or People. Others choose a Danielle Steele or Stephen King novel. A few may cozy up to Dostoyevsky in the original Russian. Whatever you read, when you’re reading what you love, you don’t have any problem paying attention (unless you’re really tired). You don’t need the threat of an exam or a critical paper hanging over your head to keep you turning the pages. You don’t need to take notes to remember what you read. You have an inherent burn to learn.

That kind of motivation isn’t just for kids. We keep it through the years, although it may get lost in the shuffle of a standardized education system. That’s important for you to keep in mind, as both a person and as a manager.

Beyond grades, beyond paychecks and performance reviews, beyond any external motivation you can create, the burn to learn alone can move your staff to new heights.

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The Craving to Contribute

You may have seen a TV ad for TOMS shoes (see www.toms.com). This company, founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, sells shoes, of course, but they go far beyond that. For every pair of new shoes sold, another new pair is donated to a child in need in a developing country. As of September 2010, that added up to over a million pairs of shoes. New shoes lower the risk of soil-transmitted disease and injuries and actually increase the chances of a child attending school (where shoes might be required). Mycoskie was moved to start this company after traveling in Argentina and witnessing the poverty and health problems there.

In addition to donating shoes, the TOMS mission has caught on with other corporate citizens, inspiring collaborations and more donations. TOMS created and sponsors One Day Without Shoes, a yearly event to raise awareness. There are now Campus Clubs for TOMS shoes, to connect with passionate people with fresh ideas.

How about you? Do you feel that your work contributes to the greater good in some way? Long ago, many people made or grew things, real things that they could hold in their hands—machine parts or a stalk of corn. At the end of the day, they knew what they had done and how well they had done it. Now fewer people know that feeling of satisfaction, as there might be a disconnect between what they do and what the company eventually produces. Some create nothing more tangible than a disk file of data. Those who still work with their hands often perform one or two simple functions, a tiny part of a much larger process, far removed from the final product.

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Disk files or printouts are seldom a source of great pride—particularly when they’re filed away somewhere (or shredded to make way for the next set of printouts). There’s little joy, at the end of the day, in being able to say that you tightened 23,692 bolts, an increase over 23,415 the day before.

Something in us yearns to make a difference. You feel it, the farmer feels it, the cop on the beat feels that craving to contribute—and so does everybody who works with you.

If you can help employees understand the value of what they do and how it contributes to the larger picture, you’re helping them achieve peak performance.

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Strategies for Motivational Coaching

Motivating another person can be extremely difficult. In fact, it’s impossible—you cannot change another person. A person has to feel motivation from inside. As a manager-coach, you can help your employees tap into their inner motivation. For each of the three motivators just discussed, there’s a corresponding strategy you can apply.

1. To feed the desire to achieve, provide appropriate challenges. Ask them what they want to achieve, personally and professionally. Then, challenge them with tasks that can also meet their personal goals. Here are three simple tips for challenging employees.

Let them do the job. Managers who don’t delegate responsibility often make bad bosses. When you assign a goal for workers to reach, also assign the responsibility for achieving it and provide the means for doing it right.

Match the worker to the task. Find out what each worker is good at doing (or wants to learn more about). Plan for success. Keep workers striving to reach the next level of achievement.

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Focus on process as well as product. The journey is as important as the destination. Help employees work through the steps, gaining mastery as they go.

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2. To serve the burn to learn, create and support learning opportunities. You might need to shake loose some money for a workshop, training event, class, or conference, or allow workers the time needed to take advantage of these opportunities. There are lots of learning opportunities available. If you know your employees’ preferred learning styles, you can support them as they find what will work best—from conferences, classes, webinars, tele-courses, professional groups, reading or audio-books, mentorship, or intensive training.

You can also create learning opportunities in the work-place.

Now, you may be thinking, “I’m not a teacher!” Fair enough. But often you won’t need to teach; you’ll just need to get out of the way so they can learn. Put a challenge, the necessary resources, and workers together with a clearly defined goal and stand back. You won’t teach them directly—but they’ll learn. They might surprise you, and teach you a thing or two! (We examine your role as trainer in Chapter 8.)

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3. To cater to the craving to contribute, give them work that matters. Let these four simple words guide you as a coach: Never waste their time.

Don’t assign work just to keep somebody busy, and don’t call a meeting simply for the sake of having a meeting. That behavior shows a lack of respect for your employees—and it’s a waste of time for the company.

Here are two tips to help you make sure that the work you assign has meaning for employees.

Their Actions Have to Count

When you ask employees to provide input or make decisions, mean it. Otherwise, the results may be worse than if you hadn’t involved them at all.

Nobody likes to commit without consequences or work without results. It’s that simple.

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If employee input doesn’t really matter to you, it will show. They may not trust you again—and certainly would be foolish to ever bother trying to give you honest input.

If you tell employees to make a decision, their decision has to stick. You have to stand by it, support it, and do everything you can to make it work.

Until you’re ready to make that commitment, don’t set up committees and problem-solving groups. They won’t do any good—and they could do a lot of damage, because all you’ll really allow them to do is point fingers.

They Need to Know Why

A phenomenon common to employees at every level in all institutions and organizations, from the man who scrubs the toilets to the one who signs the welcoming message on the annual report: When the going gets really tough, there’s a tendency to lose track of the overall goal and narrow your focus to immediate tasks. This is true across businesses and industries, government, higher education, nonprofits, and the media.

If you work at a hospital, your ultimate job is to cure the sick, to prevent the well from getting sick, and to ease the pain of those for whom you have no cure. Every meaningful task performed at that hospital in some way contributes to those goals.

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Every worker in every organization needs to understand the ultimate outcome of his or her work. Give workers the big picture, the reason behind the work, the way their labors contribute to the cause. Ask them how they see their own work contributing to that vision. When you do, you link their work to their need to make a difference.

The Coach’s Checklist for Chapter 3

Remember the three attributes that drive your employees (and you) to perform at higher and higher levels: (1) the desire to achieve, (2) the burn to learn, and (3) the craving to contribute.

What’s the need to achieve about? It’s about gaining mastery over abilities so people feel motivated to perform well.

What’s the burn to learn about? People want to learn more about what they love. When they love their work, they want to learn more and get better at it.

What’s the craving to contribute about? People naturally want to make a contribution. When employees understand the value of what they do (and what the company does), they naturally seek to improve their performance.

Take actions as a coach to activate the three attributes that drive employee performance to get better results.