Powerful Phrases that Motivate

Over the years I’ve spent a lot (LOT!) of time watching and talking baseball. It’s not only because of my love of the game, but because – for me – baseball has valuable lessons for life and for radio. Over the years I’ve shared many things baseball has taught me – especially things that are radio-related. So in that spirit, here’s A&O&B’s first baseball blog of the season. Batter up!

Chicago Cubs’ coach Joe Maddon is a hero of mine. He has the wonderful ability to come up with short, powerful phrases that motivate, challenge and set goals for his team. If he ever retires from baseball, he could have a great second career coaching radio talent and managers.

Maddonisms as Motivators

Each year Joe distills for his players the coming season’s plan via a short, simple phrase. His past “powerful phrases that motivate” include:

• “E-Squared Equals ‘W.’” That is, Energy and Enthusiasm result in Wins.
• “9 = 8” meaning 9 players, playing as a team for 9 innings, will translate into being one of the 8 teams that go to the playoffs.
• “Embrace the Target” notes that leaders always have a target on them which is best welcomed rather than feared. “Embrace the Target” is related to another Maddonism: “Don’t let the pressure exceed the pleasure.”
• “Respect 90” was the phrase in 2015 (I wrote about that one here). It challenged players to give 100% even to the smallest parts of the game because giving respect will turn into receiving respect.

This year “Own It Now” – is the missive.

According to Joe, “Own It Now” means being responsible and being in the moment. “If we get in the habit of owning the moment, we have a pretty good chance of winning it by the end of the year.”

Thus, “Own It Now” communicates both urgency and a sense of responsibility.

The Concepts of Ownership and Urgency

So what are Ownership and Urgency?

Taking ownership means acknowledging that actions and outcomes are your responsibility, not someone else’s. As Medium writer Warren Tanner puts it, “Taking ownership tells others ‘you can trust me to do the right thing.’” Similarly he says, “Having trust in the workplace tells others, ‘I believe in you. I believe you’ll do the right thing and I believe you’ll do what you say you’re going to do.’”

Meanwhile, Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter defines urgency as a “hyper-alertness to what’s going on. It’s a sense of coming to work each and every day with a commitment to making something happen that’s on the important issues…it’s the determination and movement that is smart and that wins.”

This makes initiative, accountability, trust, awareness, and follow-through components of ownership. Additionally the creation of opportunities involves “sharing the vision and the why,” as well the “how.”

Radio Takeaways

So how to you create an atmosphere of “Own It Now” at your station?

The key is marrying accomplishment, proprietorship, and a habit of “staying in the moment.” By helping yourself and co-workers’ create and reach goals, by acknowledging these accomplishments, and by staying focused on what matters most now, you’re building your own “own it now” culture.

Goals for a talent might be a one-piece-per-hour increase in entertaining content, or an improvement in teasing. For sales it might be a new account goal. Or in marketing the station it could be two new ways this month to gain visibility, WOM, or earned media.

Regardless, acknowledging achievements is a great motivator which has the power to feed on itself.

But ironically the “staying focused on what matters now” part may be the hardest.

What goals will you set, achieve and celebrate? What powerful phrases that motivate will you create to help keep the team focused?

Perhaps the best way to lay out your own “Own It Now” strategy is to start with the “Now” – as in what’s most important in the immediate future. Then work back towards the “Own It” part by figuring out who will be responsible for each aspect of the project through completion.

However the most important thing when it comes to taking actions is agreeing that “now” literally means, “now.”

As Goins points out, “There is no perfect opportunity, and you can’t assume someone is going to do this for you. They won’t. This is on you, so you have to take action today.”

Similarly, as Kotter says, “There’s no way in the world, unless you’ve got this sense of urgency, that you can move and maneuver in a smart way to win.”

“Own It Now” is great advice for the individual, the staff as a whole, and each station in the cluster.  

Oh yes, and for baseball teams as well.

photo credit: Christie Maturo