Mr. Hustle
As a youngster, I was not a great basketball player. However, my best friend’s father was our high school basketball coach, so I was always sure to attend basketball camp. At the beginning of the week, Coach Clifford would announce that individual prizes would be awarded at the end of camp to the winners of the free-throw contest and “hot-shot” competition, and to the members of the team who won the championship.
These awards never really registered with me because I was easily one of the worst players at camp. I knew I didn’t have much of a chance at winning (and so did everyone else). And even though I wanted to be on the winning team, I was the designated “sub” during our week of scrimmages. Therefore, the outcome of the team contest didn’t mean a great deal to me either because I didn’t feel like I was able to make a meaningful contribution to the squad.
There was one award, however, that I strived for each year, something I badly wanted to earn to prove to everyone (including myself) that I belonged. Here I was, a kid who didn’t even really like basketball, but for weeks I dreamed about winning one trophy: the prestigious “Mr. Hustle” award. This honor was given to the camper who demonstrated the most effort in the eyes of the coaches and counselors throughout the week. I knew I couldn’t dribble between my legs or make many baskets, but I felt that I could out-hustle anyone.
Research from the field of sport and performance psychology would support my claim and has shown that athletes tend to be more motivated when they believe they have the control and ability to meet the demands of the task at hand. Awards that focus on the traits within oneself or “the controllables” breed confidence, while outcome-based awards could lead to increased cognitive anxiety, decreased effort, and overall poor performance. True motivation stems from when athletes believe they are good at what they do. While an individual may not be able to control the amount of raw talent he or she possesses, he or she can always choose to put forth maximum effort.
Awards such as “Mr.Hustle” promote a growth mindset and foster a strong work ethic in athletes. When athletes know that their coach recognizes “try-hard” behavior, they take notice and want to try even harder. In all those years of going to basketball camp, I don’t remember who won any of the individual skill competitions or recall a single member from any of the championship teams, but 25 years after the fact, I can tell you without hesitation that Adam Myser won the Mr.Hustle award during my first year at camp. Even though I wasn’t recognized as “Mr.Hustle,” I took notice of Adam’s effort and for years tried to surpass it in the eyes of the coaches. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Adam and I were both later selected as captains of our varsity football team by our peers. It turns out that our teammates also found work ethic to be a desirable quality.
“No work, No success. Know work, Know success.” This quote was printed on our basketball camp T-shirts each year; however, it wasn’t those words that inspired me. Likewise, a mission statement printed in the company handbook most likely won’t motivate your employees. At basketball camp, hard work wasn’t just talked about, it was rewarded. If you are a parent, teacher, coach, or executive and want those under your supervision to exhibit great effort or any other desirable quality, then you had better start finding ways to reward it.
Coach Nelson holds a doctorate in sport and performance psychology and currently serves as a high school football coach. He has worked for multiple professional sport franchises, a Fortune 100 Company, a division 1 athletic departments and has won numerous awards for his LEADership abilities.
His mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline (#LEAD). To learn more about the LEAD philosophy follow him on Twitter Levi Nelson or reach out via email at rln10@zips.uakron.edu He’d love to learn about or help you in your journey!
