Lead by Defining "Us"

“Us” is a powerful word. You should use it when leading others.

In my previous post on the science of motivation, I discussed how motivating employees from within (e.g., giving employees positive feedback, autonomy, appreciation, meaningful work, etc.) is not only more effective, but also longer lasting than external methods of motivation (e.g., money, punishment, etc.). Today, I want to mention another powerful motivating tool—make employees feel like “one of us” and understand “who we are.”

Social psychologists have long understood the power of group identity. They find that people tend to categorize themselves into different social groups and define themselves in terms of our group memberships (AKA social identity).[1]

Those who strongly identify with a group will see the success and failure of the group as their personal experience.[2] That’s why we have so many committed and passionate sports fans in the world, and that’s also why people will stand up and make their voices heard when their groups are being attacked (even though they are not personally harmed). Undoubtedly, you can relate to this in some way within your own life.

The sense of obligation and commitment to defend the group and work toward that group’s goal is especially strong when the members are strongly identified with the group’s culture, value and beliefs (e.g., religion).2^,[3]

And that’s why great leaders often use ingroup identity to motivate others.

The passionate pre-game pep talk from coaches before an important face-off strengthens athletes’ identities as team members, which motivated them to work together during the game to exert their maximum efforts; politicians give addressment at political rallies to remind voters of their political ideals and position to ensure votes during the election; CEOs give visionary and charismatic talks during staff meetings to reinforce the goals and values of the company, which leads to improved employee morale, job satisfaction and motivation toward a higher performance.

Now, let’s talk about the other direction. We have all been there at some point.

Competition and threats to one’s ingroup identity will often lead to stronger ingroup identification.1 There doesn’t even need to be physical threats. The mere perceptions of threats will be enough to drive group members’ behaviors to defend the group. Because they are attacking us; we have to stay together and fight back. This can be found anywhere, from fans at football games to political discussions on social media.

The former Ohio State football team head coach Urban Meyer reportedly had 10 feet of bulletin board materials posted in the team hotel featuring comments and remarks made by their opponents (some are true and some are made up) to motivate his young players.

These negative, sometimes offensive, comments from the “enemies” can present great threats to the team members because the players strongly identify themselves through their membership as a Buckeye. Such threats will in turn raise their aggression toward the “enemies” and strengthen their identity as an Ohio State player. The strengthened social identity, as well as the aggression, will serve as powerful motivation during the competition and ultimately enabled the Buckeyes to bring home a national title.

Think about why some people would believe in a “flat Earth.” Such a belief gives them a unique identity of “fighting for the truth” and “being courageous enough to fight against the government and the rest of the world.” Once this identity has settled in, the more the general public and media attack their beliefs, the stronger they will hold their identity and the more willingly will they twist any possible “proof” and “evidence” to fit their claim, while ignoring all the easily retrievable scientific facts.

Therefore, successfully defining “who we are” for a group can unify group members and motivate them to work for the benefit of the unit.

Now, how do you make employees embrace their identities as a part of “us”?

You will just have to stay tuned as we will discuss it in my next blog.

References:

[1] Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of inter group conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

[2] Foote, N. N. (1951) Identification as the basis for a theory of motivation. American Sociological Review, 16, 14-21.

[3] Ellemers, N., De Gilder, D., & Haslam, S. A. (2004). Motivating individuals and groups at work: A social identity perspective on leadership and group performance. Academy of Management review, 29, 459-478.