The runners have started to arrive in Boston. I noticed them on the pathway along the Charles River this morning: the race shirts from other cities, the slightly anxious chatter, mostly the excitement and the anticipation.
30,000 runners will start the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton on Monday, but the race is really just the culmination of 16-18 weeks of meticulous training, and for many, it’s a race years in the making.
Marathoners are motivated by lots of different factors, and except for a couple of dozen, winning isn’t one of them. Many will raise thousands of dollars for dozens of amazing organizations. Most have an intrinsic goal that has meaning for them personally - a pace, a time, a little faster than a prior achievement, or a little faster than they thought they could, getting across that finish line on Boylston Street, or just being part of a historic event. Every marathoner is motivated.
This brings me to my LinkedIn-relevant point: How can you motivate your team to commit to a singular goal across a quarter or a year or a decade? Can your team members be motivated differently toward the same goal? I think the answers are yes, and yes, but I do believe strongly that a unifying goal is essential.
(And yes, I’ll be in Hopkinton Monday morning. Bib 14616. Let me know if you’ll be on the course so I can look for you.)