Ep 230 | How to Get Discretionary Effort From Those You Lead

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today we're going to talk a bit about leadership. And what is leadership? My definition of leadership is a very simple one. Leadership to me is influence. Influence. You're either influencing in the right direction or you're influencing in the wrong direction. No matter what, when you lead, you are in fact influencing. Goes without saying, good leaders are influencing and helping shape the thinking of individuals to drive towards a very positive result, whereas bad leaders do the opposite. They lack influence, or if they are in fact influencing, it's to the wrong— it's in the wrong direction. I want to talk about leading and leading specifically in the right direction, of course. And the focus today is going to be on getting what I would call discretionary effort out of your people, out of the people that you're leading. Now, this discretionary effort, I think there's a natural tendency, of course, to talk about this in the workplace. It's very applicable there. But I also think about others that you may be leading in your life, particularly your kids if you have them, or, or young people in your, in your world. I want to talk about again, discretionary effort. So here's what I found. What I've learned over time is that I will not get discretionary effort from an individual specifically when I enforce negative consequences. I don't get the extra effort when in fact I'm using the stick versus the carrot. So when, when people face negative consequences, when they face potential punishment for their actions, they are less likely to exert extra effort. They're less likely to go above and beyond the minimum requirements because discretionary effort refers to something that's voluntary, something that's extra that individuals choose to invest their time or their work or their tasks beyond just the minimum required to fulfill their responsibilities. So in the work environment, right? If you have people that, that work alongside you, that may be reporting into you and they fear negative consequences, negative consequences, such as a punishment or criticism or some sort of adverse reaction from you or others alongside you, then they are less inclined to contribute discretionary effort because they're going to prioritize avoiding negative outcomes over going above and beyond their basic job requirements. So I want to get discretionary effort out of my people. And where am I going with this? We talk about accountability, accountability so much. And I think when people, you know, go with the standard definition of accountability, they think that they're holding account, holding somebody accountable to the specific tasks or standards required for that particular role. And in the event that you violate or don't honor those tasks or standards, then you will, you will suffer in some sort of negative way. And while I understand the purpose in that, and I will be honest in that, I will use that approach from time to time. More oftentimes than not, I want discretionary effort. I want people going above and beyond. So while there may be a degree of accountability in the, in the sense I just described, I have to really think around how do I get the most out of my people? In order to do that, I think you've got to create a supportive work environment, a positive one, one where people really feel valued and heard and they're recognized for their contributions. I think that this is what aids in encouraging this discretionary effort. Now compare this to one where there's fear of, of, you know, punishment or harsh consequences. Likely that will lead to reduced motivation, reduced engagement from your people, and make them less likely to put in that, that additional effort. Now, what are some ways we can actually inspire discretionary effort? I want to go through a quick, a quick list of things, things that I think about if I want to get more out of my people, right? I don't want to rule with the, with the stick, but more with the carrot. Okay. Number 1, Give your people a reason. Give them a reason to commit themselves to expending, you know, extra effort. Give them one that they can buy into. Maybe it's compensation. Maybe it's a bonus, like a performance bonus, but give them a reason to go the extra mile. And the reason can't be, well, I'm going to take away this or take away that. Sure, it might shape behavior a slight bit, but the research will show that in order to get discretionary effort, you've got to give them something to strive for, something to shoot for that gives them a reason to again, go that extra mile. Now, the next thing I think about doing is making certain that if I want discretionary effort, that I'm providing the tools and the assets and the support required. See, your team, you as an individual, you can either put in extraordinary effort to overcome lack of tools or, or blockers or whatever it may be that's standing in the way. Or you could put in an extra effort to moving the team and the organization forward with the right tools and fewer roadblocks and the right support. So the point, the point here is if you want discretionary effort, get all the roadblocks out of the way, give them the right tools, give them the right assets. But if they're frustrated by lack of resources, then it's hard for them to focus on putting in that extra effort and going that extra mile. Next thing I like to think about, I want to give the right people the room, you know, the flexibility to go put in the extra effort. One of the easiest ways I found to motivate an employee to go above and beyond is to give them autonomy. The autonomy to set their own expectations right now. Yes, I want input. Yes, I'm going to help shape their thinking around that, but they want autonomy, right? So there are times where I might use a more command and control sort of approach, and that might be what is called for in the moment. But again, if I want discretionary effort, I've got to give my people more control over how they approach their work. Again, if I don't like their approach, maybe it's not a punitive, you know, action I take. Maybe I spend more time coaching them on how to think differently, influencing them, going back to that word around leadership, influencing them in the right direction versus punishing them for going the wrong direction. Does that make sense? I'm not saying be completely hands-off. You've got to be there providing the support they need. I'm just saying that there's got to be a balance between providing support when it's needed and staying out of the way of their progress. Some other things to think about as we're working through this, right? As we were trying to get discretionary effort, show appreciation, recognize when someone puts in an extra effort. Too often, and I know I'm very guilty of this, that effort isn't always recognized or appreciated. And as a result, maybe I don't continue to get it. Maybe I don't have repeat performances. However, I should be recognizing it. And when I do, it encourages more of that same behavior. People like to be recognized. Who doesn't, right? Humans like to be recognized. So show appreciation, recognize discretionary effort, give that validation for the effort when you see it, and it will encourage similar effort in the future. Last couple things. Encourage some collaboration, encourage camaraderie, think around your culture, right? Take this, you know, people want to collaborate. They want teamwork. They want peer stakeholders involved. When people have peer stakeholders involved, when they feel there's collaboration, they're much more likely to put in the extra effort into a project or an initiative because their peers are counting on them. So if you want, if you want discretionary effort, Focus on a team effort where your partners, where your teammates alongside you are counting on you to perform. People can let themselves down when it's isolated, but when there's other teammates dependent on them, more oftentimes than not, they're going to put in that extra effort. The last thing I think around when I want to encourage discretionary effort is to stay positive. It's, it's hard. It's, you know, it's, you're going to have a hard time inspiring extraordinary effort. I know I do, but you're especially going to have a hard time inspiring extra effort when you have anything less than a positive attitude. When you're trying to rule with say an iron fist or, or you've got a bad, you know, you've got bad energy. If you want to inspire your team to exceed their goals or to put in more effort and give their absolute best on a regular basis, then you have to reinforce that behavior through positive outcomes. Negative reinforcement will generally only incentivize someone to do just enough to avoid negative reinforcement, you know, further negative reinforcement, right? So they'll do just enough. But again, remember positive, you know, movement, positive thinking, encouragement, all these things we just went through, they will lead to repeat efforts of discretionary effort beyond where, beyond, beyond beyond the norm right now. As I mentioned before we get started here, this is very applicable in the work— in the workplace, of course. But I want you to think about your kids as well, if you have some, or if you have young people in your world. We have a tendency as parents to punish. I mean, we all have, you know, we— I'm sure we all have a slightly different approach there. But when I say punish, I mean, I mean reprimand. Like if you don't do something that you're supposed to do, then there are consequences for that. That's kind of like the, the basic, you know, parenting technique. And I'm not saying that's not required from time to time, but I do think that there is something here about discretionary effort in the workplace that is very applicable. Maybe, maybe time to take a step back with respect to your parenting. Are you going to get minimum effort out of your kids because they fear the punitive, you know, the punitive, repercussions? What if you went the other direction with it? You know, what if you, you took a more inspiring approach? What if there was accountability, but not accountability with the stick? Instead, it's the carrot is out there. I'm going to give you the freedom. I'm going to give you the flexibility. I'm going to encourage a certain thing. I'm going to help you think. I'm going to influence the direction you're going. Lot to think about here around discretionary effort. And it's a tough deal, right? As a leader, you're going to have to use different methods and oftentimes with different people to drive towards the result that you desire. I just want you to take a step back today and think about how you can encourage more discretionary effort. And in doing so, ultimately get to where you want to go as a team quicker than you would. Through any other way. That's all we have for you today, the No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.