COMPETITION! Are we doing it right?
By: Kyle Harris
Tags: Internal Locus, Coaching, Competition, Leadership, Intrinsic Motivation

Competition.

Competition is an interesting phenomena. It brings greatness out in some, yet can handcuff others. It yields motivation and resolve in certain individuals, and causes others to run the other way. It can be internal and it can be external. Some can learn from competition, foster development, and transpose it to other areas of life, with range. Others can seemingly use it only in specified circumstances. Some competitors live in the past. Some live in the present. Some work toward the future. Great competitors use the past as a teacher, enter flow state during the present, yet have foresight for the future. Leaders can use competition to push forward in the pursuit of excellence within themselves and as inspiration for their followers. Competition can drive forward thinking and progress, yet it can also manifest obsession that clouds clear the judgement needed for cointinual and infinite growth.

But what does all of this mean?

Competition is often lauded by coaches, managers, leaders, and parents. Rightfully so. It can be a wonderful motivator, and quite frankly, competition can be fun. Competition provides an element of anticipation and risk. Risk begets curiosity. Curiosity is preceded by the unknown and the unknown embodies a sense of mystique. We are all drawn to the mystical; things and phenomena we don’t completely understand. Competition also provides the opportunity to succeed or win. Success and winning are followed by the release of endorphins that rapidly increase a sense of well-being and euphoria, natural highs that can be extremely addicting. Wins can be individual. They can be team wins. They can be getting the job. They can be getting an “A”. They can be as small as just doing something a little bit better. Success and winning can be defined differently by each person and each situation.

These facts make competition enticing to anyone that wants to improve performance, create enjoyment, or continue to develop passion for an activity. However, the premise behind the use of competition to foster improvement or garner motivation is often misappropriated. There is often a lack of intent when competition enters the business, the workplace, school, or sport. Leaders, managers, coaches, parents, and teachers certainly have the best of intentions when using competition to inspire and motivate.

The issue becomes when competition lacks deliberate intentions and that boils down to how we communicate the motives and goals of competition. When competition is finite the singular focus becomes external. It becomes about obtaining a “thing”. Beating someone out for a spot. Getting an “A” or passing a test. Getting into a college or getting a job. Winning a game. This creates a myriad of problems that begin with the manifestation of anxiety and stress leading up to obtaining the external “thing” derived through competition.

However, when competition is used deliberately to foster intrinsic and continual personal growth we can shift the intent intrinsically. The ability to create internal, self-driven competition fosters the mindset needed to understand continual and infinite, inner personal growth. True intrinsic competition isn’t defined by finite objectives or obtaining something tangible. Instead it’s about using performance, information, and failure to problem solve, think logically, and advance, perpetually.

As leaders, no matter what we are leading, our goal should be to foster an environment that motivates our followers to love intrinsic competition. We must design and create environments where our followers feel comfortable and compelled to challenge themselves and reflect on what they can improve on. Our job should be to create autonomy within the creation of competition. That can be done in a multitude of ways. One way we can foster an internal locus of competition is by communicating honestly where a child, athlete, student, or employee is, and empathetically letting them know we appreciate them and their current level. From there we open ourselves up so they are more comfortable to reciprocate vulnerability. This helps to build a relationship that will allow us, as leaders, to then transition into challenging them to grow. That’s all competition is. It’s growth. When we measure solely against others, we create an us vs them environment. Us vs Them can be very motivating to some people, it also creates an element of stress and anxiety in others.

However, when we create an environment based on internal growth as the measure of success, that competition can stir extremely intimate personal feelings that motivates and is exponentially rewarding to all participants. As a parent, teacher, coach, boss (any leader) it’s our role to define outcomes in a way that allows for autonomy of our followers. Initially keeping the environment risk free while allowing subordinates to experiment, discover, and optimizing degrees of freedom increases curiosity and experimentation. The big ask, as a leader, in this environment should be for self-reflection. What did you do? How did you do it? What was the result? Are you happy with the outcome? Would you do differently? What would you do the same? What resources could help you improve the result? What resources could help in efficiency? This approach builds further autonomy, while also creating trust. The more equity we can build as leaders in both autonomy and trust with our followers, the more confident they will feel to work hard and take risks that may result in improved performance.

Once the definitive outcome is outlined and a period of discovery produces buy-in greater attention to detail can be added. The rapport and relationship built from allowing freedom of failure allows for a greater and more fruitful mentor-protege environment and opens up lines for vulnerable and intimate conversation that allows for reciprocal growth in both parties. This is when the real magic can begin. This is when the individual can align their personal growth goals with the goals of the group. When this happens, and there are concrete markers or goals for both the individual and the groups, steps can be created to create a focused process for unified growth.

The key to this is making sure each and every member of the group/team understands their personal growth is crucial for the growth and success of the entire team. When each member feels as if they are an integral part of the entire group’s success and both their individual and group goals are defined with deliberate and intentional steps, the focus of each individual can be shifted to focusing on the process to complete each step. This is an important transformation because when intent can be focused on the present, mindfulness allows the individual to tunnel their focus to the task at hand. For example, a baseball or softball player can focus on competing every single pitch, instead of the results of a singular at bat. A child can understand picking up their socks and setting the table allows for greater family cohesion and a mentally healthier parent. Employees begin to understand seemingly remedial tasks are important for efficient work flow. Middle management can garner and foster trust from administration and field workers.

This is where competition can be beneficial. These types of environments are where each member of the unit understands the competitive nature of their job is not to outshine co-workers or teammates; it is not to carry the load of others or avoid failure at all costs. Instead, the job is to develop an intrinsic spirit that is personally accountable for individual growth. The acquisition of internal locus of competition allows for mindfulness, presence, and a focus on the process. It becomes about doing a job or completing a task to the best of your ability, then reflecting on it using the same or similar questions mentioned above and reshaping focus, intent, and application of skills to improve daily. When the goal is defined and when team members feel safe from repercussions so they can try, fail, and retry we can effectively shift competitive focus from being outwardly driven to being inwardly driven. This should be the goal of all leaders because continual intrinsic growth through the proper competitive channels will manifest into personal happiness, group success, and a long term winning culture.