Guiding Greatness:

How Coaches Shape Athlete Motivations

Several readers have asked me to write about techniques to help them motivate their athletes. So let's explore the complicated factors determining our athletes' motivation.

Coaches try some crazy things to motivate their athletes.

My favorite example occured years ago when my son's PeeWee football tam was preparing to play a team named the Unicorns. Certainly, a bad name for a football team. His coach thought he would motivate the kids by burning a large stuffed unicorn after practice. He gathered the kids in, soaked the unicorn in gas and lit it on fire.

Safe to say the combination of gas and whatever the material the unicorn was made out of created a mini inferno. Thankfully, no one was hurt, though the coach did singe his eyebrows.

The kids thought it was hilarious and loved it. My son told the story to anyone we came into contact with for the next few weeks. The adults watching were concerned and likely also told the story to anyone they came in contact with over the next few weeks.

It did not provide any lasting motivation and they lost the game anyway. Perhaps more time defending the sweep (the sweep is the GOAT of PeeWee Football plays) and less time burning stuffed animals would have been useful.

Motivation is one of the biggest challenges facing coaches.

One of the main complaints of today's athletes revolves around how hard they are to motivate.

There is no doubt that what motivates athletes has changed. There are several factors that have impacted motivation for today's athletes. They include:

• Too many games during 12-month seasons
• The constant distraction of technology
• Increased pressure and expectations
• The trend toward single sport specialization.
• A general lack of downtime in their lives.
• Coaches who they don't connect with today's athlete

The reality is that motivation for athletes has always been complicated. Every athlete is motivated by a different set of factors and it is up to the coach to figure out how to reach them.

Coaches dedicate a great deal of time coming up with powerful speeches and gimmicks to motivate athletes. In reality, like burning a unicorn, these techniques do very little to motivate athletes.

Coaches cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to motivation.

Each athlete has a unique set of factors that work together to motivate them. Coaches can easily to identify the athletes on a team who are motivated, they stand out and seldom require coach intervention. It is far more challenging to understand the athletes whose drive is not as high or is inconsistent.

Motivation starts with the core beliefs and values of each individual on a team. These define who they are and what matters to them. Athletes will work towards goals that provide a reward in line with their goals and beliefs. A reward not in line with their core values will actually de-motivate an athlete.

An athlete whose core values revolve around relationships will not be motivated by individual recognition but rather by team success.

Making things even harder is understanding how to get a group of people possessing unique core values and beliefs, and are motivated by different factors, to move towards a common goal.

Motivating athletes requires that coaches understand what factors inspire them to be their best.

Coaching and leadership in general is hard.

Coaches need to understand the four levers of motivation and how they impact their athletes.

Motivation is created by a combination of what drives and athlete and what type of rewards interest them. All humans are motivated by a combination of Internal/ External drivers and Intrinsic/ Extrinsic rewards.

Internal Drivers

An internally driven athlete requires not outside stimulus to work towards being their best. They are going to work out, do their best in practice and give maximum effort in games. They possess what is required to work towards the best version of themselves.

External Drivers

External drivers are any factors outside that push the athlete. Parents, and coaches are external drivers. Seeing a rival or friend play well can be an external driver that can spur them on to work hard. The list of possible extrernal drivers is endless.

Intrinsic Reward

Intrinsic rewards come from the pursuit of mastery. Intrinsically motivated athletes work towards mastery of what they love. The process of growth and pushing themselves to maiximize their potential because they want to see if they can do it.

Extrinsic Reward

These are rewards that motivate athletes, for example public recognition, playing for accolades, scholarships and contracts are all extrinsic rewards.

Every athlete falls somewhere on this scale across all four categories. The best score fairly high in all four categories. It's really easy to coach an athlete who is intrinsically driven to acheive intrinsic rewards but also is driven by the extrinsic side. You can wind those athletes up and pull the cord and they will be just fine. They will get better and compete hard.

The hardest challenge is working with athletes who are extrinsically driven and require extrinsic rewards.

These athletes drive coaches crazy. They must be talented otherwise they wouldn't be on the team. Dr. Michael Gervais sums it up well "these athletes need a carrot all the time. They won't do anything without the reward being significant and obvious." No coach has ever kept player at the end of the bench who they have to incentivize to come to practice and work hard.

Adding another layer of challenge is that motivation is not fixed. Humans have tendencies regarding the drivers and rewards that move them but it can change depending on what is happening in their lives.

The question is which of the four levers does the coach need to pull for their athletes to improve motivation. Here are four strategies that will help coaches increase motivation within their program.

Strategies to understand your athletes motivation.

1.) Know your athletes

There is now subsitute for investing in the relationship with your athletes.

Impacting one of the four drivers of motivation requires an understanding of the athletes relationship with their sport and what drives them to be their best.

When motivation dips is there a reasonable explanation?

Has the athlete suffered a loss in their family, experienced trauma or endured something that impacts their drive or diminished the impact of their rewards.

It is very difficult to tap into an athlete's motivation without understanding their "why". Understanding an athlete's "why" gives you insight behind their actions and behavior.

Invest in daily contact with each athlete. Find out what gets them out of the bed for early practice. The more you know about the athlete's relationship with the four levers of motivation, the easier it will be to help them adjust the levers for better performance.

You should also share your "why" with your team. The bonds between coach and athlete become tighter when the leaders is willing to be vulnerable and share what motivates them to be their best.

2.) Creating a clear "why" that connects to a strong team culture

Author Simon Sinek believes that there are two ways that leaders can motivate their teams. Manipulation or inspiration. Manipulation works but it doesn't motivate long term. Inspiration creates lasting motivation but requires consistent leadership. The members of the team need to feel connected to the team, it's leader and it's mission.

Building and maintaining a strong team culture is a big part of this. Creating a culture that people want to be part taps into both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

3.) Set Goals that connect to the athlete's and team's drivers

When a talented team and has a clear purpose and a connected culutre there remains one more multiplier coaches can use to increase motivation, setting clear goals.

Clear meaningful goals that are tied into the groups "why" become extrinsic drivers that powerfully motivate teams.

4.) Give athletes input on culture and goals.

One last strategy that coaches can employ to strengthen athletes' motivation is involving athletes in the decision making process. Whether it is input on standards and culture or the goals they are working towards.

This is part of self-determination theory which states that people who feel ownership, connection, respect and safety within a group are going to be motivated to work for what is best for the group.

It is a poweful force.

Coaches who understand how to utilize all four of these keys will find that their athletes are motivated and they may not need big speeches or to sensilessly sacrifice of stuffed unicorns.

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Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.