3 Things Leaders & Runners Need to Do to Customize Towards Optimal Performance

Week 10 Mileage: 47 miles

Long Run Distance:  20 miles

 

Shalane Flanagan, who was the top American marathon finisher in Rio (6^th overall),  almost didn’t make the Olympic team. The trials were in LA during a day of grueling heat, and after starting strong, things unraveled fast.

Having trouble with the digestion of her fluids, she started to get chills which indicates a problem with dehydration.  Her drinks were too concentrated and she ended up having absorption problems. At mile 23, she described her experience on the Runner’s World Show Podcast,

“Amy like (her training partner), I’m really struggling…”

“My face was getting really, really red, and she (Amy) could tell I was starting to overheat. At that point I thought I may be missing out on my fourth Olympic team.”

After finishing in the 3^rd spot and qualifying, she underwent a sweat analysis that analyzed her particular genetics and sweat composition to see what type of fluids and nutrition she needed, customized for her, in order to run in Rio- also in hot, humid conditions- to optimize performance.  She is a heavy sweater, sweating almost three times more than her training partner did during the same test.  Amy and Shalane had different fuels in their bottles in Rio and hydrated differently because they perspire differently.

Just like Olympic runners need different things to optimize their performance, different people need different things to maximize their performance at work through the motivational techniques their leaders deploy.  There are different strokes for different folks.

Some employees may be motivated by public praise whereas another might want to crawl under the table if you praise them in front of the team.  Some may need an opportunity to think things through and plan things out in order to perform successfully, whereas others may maximize their performance through the adrenaline rush that comes from a fast and spur of the moment pace.

Do you know what type of fuel each of your team members need to optimize performance? If not, here are a few things you can consider for discerning key motivators:

1. Ask them what motivates them! Email us and we will send you a simple questionnaire that can help facilitate this discussion between you and your employees.
2. Assess them. There are several personality assessments out there that help us understand what motivates or drives people at the individual level and how that drive interacts with others to drive team performance. Email us and we can also set you up with one of these.
3. Watch and listen to them. Can you see when someone’s stress level is rising?  What triggered it?  Stress masquerades as demotivation.  Too much of those triggers and you are going to burn someone out.  In contrast, when do you notice someone is energized and excited?  They probably need more of the environment, tasks or interactions that lead to that excitement to optimize motivation.

Ask, assess, watch and listen.  This will help you customize your motivational elixir for optimal performance.