Self Interest or Team Effort?

I was in a meeting yesterday and our discussion centered around how we could really engage certain people within an organization. We weren’t long into the discussion when someone said, “I always think that people are motivated by self-interest.”

My first thought was that his comment was a bit cynical. But as I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that maybe he had only stated the obvious. Of course, people are motivated by what benefits them personally.

So our discussion moved to what would motivate specific individuals. We had a productive conversation about how we could engage each person and walked away with a better perspective on how best to move forward.

But in reflecting on what we did yesterday, I’m having some doubts. I think we may have missed half the picture. Yes, people are motivated by self-interest, there’s no doubt about that. They want to know what’s in it for them. There’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe they get a sense of satisfaction from doing their job well. It might be money that motivates them. Or it could be that they really embrace the intellectual challenge their work provides.  Whatever the reason, make no mistake, it’s personal. They’re doing what they do because they get something from doing it. They’re self-interested.

Here’s the other half. Something is gained from being part of something bigger than yourself. People want to know how they are contributing to the greater good. Sure, it’s all about them and their needs, until it’s not. I believe people, once certain basic personal needs are met, are much more concerned about the big picture than we give them credit for.

In saying this, my mind immediately goes to the greatest players and teams in sports history. Take Alex Rodriguez, for example. Like him or not, he’s one of the greatest players in baseball. In the prime of his career, he was traded to the New York Yankees. The problem was that the Yankees already had their own future Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter, playing Rodriguez’s position, shortstop. So Rodriguez, in order to get the opportunity to play for the Yankees, accepted a move to third base.

Why accept the move? Here’s a guy who many consider to be the best player in the game at the time of the trade and he’s willing to switch positions. My guess is that Rodriguez was more interested in playing for the most storied franchise in baseball and having the opportunity to win a World Series Championship than being the superstar on a lesser team that might never win it all. He’s willing to sacrifice what he wants for himself  to be a part of something bigger than any one individual.

I think everyone wants the same thing as Alex Rodriguez. They want what’s good for them to a point, but they also want to be a part of something bigger.  A-Rod was, at one-time, the highest paid player in Major League Baseball. Let’s face it, his basic needs were more than being met. So when given the opportunity to become part of a winning franchise, he forfeited his position so he could be part of the team he believed would help him win a championship.

I think the people Who work in every organization are the same as A-Rod. Sure, they have their own interests at heart, to a point. But they also want to be a part of something bigger. And as managers, it’s our job to give them that. We need to explain to them how they fit into the bigger picture. We need to show them how they contribute to the greater good. We need to get them to see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. And we need to get them to believe that what they do is important — that without them we would not succeed.

I had a football coach who said, “We’re only as good as our weakest link.” The message was that every single player on the team was important. Every person had a role to play. The team could only achieve  as much as what was allowed by the one who contributed the least. No one wanted to be that weakest link. No one wanted to let their teammates down.

It’s that way in business, too. Every individual in the organization is making a contribution. The organization can only go as far as the weakest person on the team. That is why it’s so important to get the right people “on the bus.” And once you have the right people, all striving for something greater than their individual accomplishments, you have something really special.

So when you’re thinking about how best to motivate the people in your organization, make sure you consider what drives them individually and find a way to tap that self-interest. But don’t stop there. Make sure you give them something bigger than themselves to strive for. Make sure they know how they contribute to the greater good. These two pieces together will allow people to achieve much more than either one by itself.