Phil Jackson Motivating Players

Phil Jackson has long been considered one of the most cerebral coaches in NBA history, frequently acclaimed for his ability to consistently motivate players (Lazenby 77; Zillgitt). Currently in his 19th season, Jackson's 10 championships as a head coach are the most in NBA History. Additionally, Jackson holds the highest winning percentage of any coach in NBA history for both the regular season and the playoffs (Sports Illustrated). Roland Lazenby writes, "Jackson has built a career on finding success through a variety of unconventional approaches" (7). Though his methods may first appear unconventional, Jackson has simply found the appropriate methods to precisely implement proven motivational theories. Jackson primarily focuses on two aspects of motivational theory to keep his players driven; goal-setting and enhancing self-efficacy.

Goal-setting (Latham 107) is considered one of the more valid and practical theories of employee motivation. (Locke and Latham 705; Pinder #, Earley and Lee #) Latham's theory has four main components (107) and is centered on the concept that some people perform better than others because they have different performance goals. The first component is to set challenging and specific goals (108). The idea is that difficult but specific goals lead to significantly higher performance than easy or no goals. Knight, Durham and Locke further that by writing an assigned performance goal signals what the person assigning the goal considers achievable (327). In More Than A Game, Charlie Rosen details Phil Jackson's goal-setting method. He said Jackson's method was always to set goals that are higher than the ones required by the situation at hand (120). Rosen said Jackson's premise was that anybody traveling along with him could sense a greater journey beyond the immediate concerns of winning ballgames (158).

Latham's second component states a person needs to be committed to the goals set (109). In his book Sacred Hoops, Jackson illustrates why he believes his players always gave a strong commitment to his set goals. Jackson wrote it's not the money or adulation that drives basketball players but instead it's their love of the game (79). Therefore, Jackson would, and continues to, set goals that allowed his players to completely immerse themselves in the game while also maximizing their performance (Mink). Jackson believes when a player becomes immersed they will devote an unparalleled commitment to attaining specific goals. He believes his job as a coach is to reawaken that love and commitment through common goals so "players can blend together effortlessly" (80).

The third component of goal-setting revolves around the employer or, in this, case coach providing feedback in relation to the goals (Latham 110). Latham says a coach providing feedback as a form of measurement allows the organization to cogently convey what they truly value versus what the organization may say it values (110). Lazenby illustrates how Jackson is always "firm and direct" when talking to his team but rarely ever raised his voice (13). After tough losses, "he could be especially consoling, commending their great effort" (14). Lazenby adds that Jackson would later spend hours analyzing film and isolating areas of improvement but would never provide feedback with out first thinking each word through (16). Taking this time allowed Jackson to be poignant and influential when providing feedback to both his team and players individually (17; Dupree).

Finally, Latham says the employer/coach must provide the resources necessary for the employee/player to attain the goal (111). Throughout his career Phil Jackson has relied on his assistant coaches, Tex Winter in particular, to teach his players the fundamentals of his offense and defense (Halberstam 186). Jackson understands he cannot be an expert on all facets of the game and is not afraid to delegate teachings when necessary. For example Jackson adopted the triangle offense from Tex Winter, therefore he hired Winter to teach the intricacies of the offense to his players (Halberstam 202). By delegating the technical responsibilities to his assistants, Jackson presents his players with the best opportunity to maximize their physical potential. Most importantly, Jackson allows himself time to focus on the mental aspect of the game and making his team into a cohesive and singular unit (Dupree).

Karau and Williams point out much of the world's work is accomplished in groups and many groups perform collective tasks "that require the pooling of individual member's inputs" (#). Despite the motivation level of individual members being a key determinant of group