The Holistic Approach to Motivating and Building Morale

Years  ago, as a young project manager, I attended a technical conference in Washington, DC, USA. I decided to attend a talk presented by Hall of Fame coach, Joe Gibbs, the former head coach of the Washington Redskins. He began his presentation by stating that professional football, like many professions, was a people-oriented business and how he learned how important it was to properly motivate his players. You would think that with the big money players were making that motivating them would be relatively easy, but he found just the opposite to be true. One year he decided to purchase two, large La-Z-Boy® recliners and placed them right in the middle of the locker room at Redskins Park, located at the time in Reston, Virginia, USA. He proclaimed that every week, following Sunday’s game, the coaching staff would proclaim the offensive and defensive players of the week. The reward for obtaining this honor was that only the winning players would be allowed to sit in the recliner all week after practice and during team meetings. Only the winning players were allowed to sit in the recliners during the week. This set off a flurry of competition between the players, especially on game days. Dexter Manley, for example, would come running off the field after sacking the quarterback, screaming: “That chair is mine this week!” Darrell Green, the Hall of…