You are the company you keep
Why your performance and mental health are only as good as your team?
Secretariat, who won the Kentucky Derby en route to the Triple Crown in 1973, surged past third-place finisher Seattle Slew and held off runner-up Citation to win the virtual Kentucky Derby. AP Photo
Ovid once said, “A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.” You might have noticed that you run faster on the treadmill when someone is doing the same next to you? Or you try harder, throw faster, jump higher when you think someone is watching you? Did you ever ask yourself why that is the case and why we find it so hard to replicate when no one is watching? What can psychology tell us about the benefits of healthy competition?
According to Psychology Today “good competitiveness is the drive to accomplish a goal, bring out the best in individuals, indeed help them understand themselves.” When you remove the healthy competition from an organization, performance suffers, and complacency sets in. We stop reading, engaging in healthy debates, and doing new and innovative things. We settle for mediocrity and forget what being good at something means. Some thrive in an intellectually challenging environment where everyone pushes each other to do their best. When that doesn’t happen, they feel demoralized. They are no longer engaged and leave for places that meet their needs.
Then there is unhealthy competition. We know who these individuals are: toxic and backstabbing, ready to pounce on your missteps, always talking behind your back to the leadership team. They manipulate, plot, and climb their way to the top while destroying reputations and careers in their path. These people have a significant impact on the team’s mental well-being and, as a result, its performance. Unfortunately, this has come to pass as leadership in many organizations. We see some of these same toxic people rise to the top of leadership ranks. You don’t have to believe me; just read Glassdoor reviews of some C-suite executives at some top companies in the United States.
There is a reason why some companies consistently rank in the top 100 list on just about every metric, whether its growth, innovation, brand recognition, or diversity. They find the best people that complement and amplify each other’s strengths. They give them a healthy environment and the support they need to push each other, thrive, and develop as individuals and team members.
So how do you know if you are part of a team/organization that brings out the beat in you? It’s straightforward, ask yourself when was the last time you did anything fun or out of the box as a team? When was the last time you discussed a new approach or attended a conference together as a team? When was the last time you participated in a workshop together as a team? When was the last time a team member presented on anything that led to an intellectually stimulating discussion? If your answer is a resounding NO to all of these questions…well, it’s time for you to find a new team!
P.S. Only a few hours after I wrote this post, MIT SMR tweeted this:
This also applies to companies and a big reason why places like Silicon Valley and Boston have become innovation centers for technology and biotech.
Originally published at https://nightcap.substack.com.
