Unleashing Discretionary Effort: The Seven Leadership Levers That Drive Exceptional Performance

What motivates employees to go above and beyond their basic job requirements? In today’s competitive business environment, the difference between adequate and exceptional organizational performance often lies in discretionary effort—that extra energy, creativity, and commitment employees voluntarily contribute when genuinely engaged.

Our comprehensive research involving over 18,000 direct reports reveals that leadership practices, not compensation or perks, serve as the primary catalyst for this heightened level of contribution. We’ve identified seven essential levers that transformative leaders consistently employ:

• inspiring rather than merely driving
• cultivating positive team dynamics
• presenting meaningful challenges
• facilitating continuous skill development
• connecting daily work to strategic objectives
• fostering inclusive environments
• building high-trust relationships

This article examines these critical levers and provides evidence-based insights into how leaders can create environments where discretionary effort flourishes naturally. Implementing these practices unlocks their teams’ full potential and achieves sustainable competitive advantage through their most valuable asset—their people.

1. Less push and more pull. Rather than simply pushing harder when productivity needs to increase, effective leaders should consider the pull approach. While “drive for results” measures a leader’s ability to push, “inspires and motivates others” captures their ability to pull. Data from over 100,000 leaders reveals a striking imbalance: 76% were rated more effective at pushing, while only 22% excelled at pulling. Most leaders instinctively resort to pushing harder when seeking productivity gains—and for good reason, as it typically works. However, pushing primarily increases compliance, not discretionary effort. When leaders push, team members work hard because they must. When leaders pull, people work hard because they want to.

To become more inspiring, leaders need to inject their personal energy and enthusiasm to get the job done. Today’s workforce responds differently to leadership approaches. While pushing worked for previous generations, pulling tactics will be far more effective with current and future generations.

2. Create a positive team environment. A supportive culture with valued colleagues creates an environment where people are naturally motivated to accomplish more and maximize their impact. Conversely, teams plagued by dysfunction, conflict, and constant disagreements drive people to disengage and contribute less.

The social fabric of our work environment profoundly shapes our performance and engagement—we are fundamentally influenced by the actions and responses of those around us. When team members feel psychologically safe and appreciated, their commitment deepens, and collective capabilities expand.

3. Achieving challenging goals and objectives. If asked what they’d prefer to be doing right now, most people might envision relaxing on a beautiful beach—sunshine, tranquility, and a cool drink in hand. Few would say, “tackling a challenging project with difficult objectives.” Yet when people reflect on their most meaningful work experiences, they typically describe overcoming significant challenges. Accomplishing difficult objectives allows people to realize their potential and witness their ability to positively influence outcomes. People fundamentally desire to make a difference and create an impact; they find little satisfaction in meaningless work that contributes nothing. As a leader, don’t hesitate to challenge your team to achieve what seems impossible—beneath the initial resistance often lies the opportunity for their most fulfilling professional experiences.
4. Help others to develop new skills. People inherently crave skill development in their professional lives. The satisfaction of mastering something new creates a powerful sense of accomplishment and purpose. When leaders actively facilitate their team members’ development, they significantly increase motivation and workplace satisfaction. Each new capability a person acquires doesn’t merely enhance their professional toolkit—it generates genuine pride and deepens their engagement with their work. Organizations prioritizing learning opportunities create self-reinforcing growth cycles, where personal development fuels higher performance, which inspires further development.
5. Providing others with a definite sense of direction and purpose. When employees understand precisely how their individual efforts connect to broader organizational goals, they experience a profound sense of purpose and significance. This connection transforms routine tasks into meaningful contributions. The most effective leaders regularly revisit and reinforce the organization’s vision, creating clear lines of sight between daily activities and ultimate outcomes. This consistent reinforcement isn’t redundant—it’s essential, as it prevents mission drift and keeps team members aligned with organizational priorities.
6. Creating an inclusive environment where differences are valued and appreciated. Anyone who has experienced being overlooked or undervalued in a group setting understands how inclusion profoundly affects motivation and belonging. When leaders create truly inclusive environments, they establish the foundation for teams to genuinely welcome and leverage differences. Teams that embrace inclusion not only benefit from enhanced creativity but also consistently demonstrate greater productivity and effectiveness. By fostering environments where every voice matters and unique contributions are recognized, leaders create spaces where individuals feel empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. This psychological safety unleashes discretionary effort and collective intelligence that drives organizational success in increasingly complex environments.

7. Trust. Research comparing high-trust and low-trust teams reveals a stark contrast: low-trust environments consistently suffer from higher turnover, diminished engagement, and reduced productivity. Trust serves as the essential foundation upon which discretionary effort—that valuable work people choose to contribute beyond minimum requirements—is built. Leaders cultivate trust through four key dimensions: fostering positive relationships, demonstrating consistency between words and actions, establishing credible expertise, and reliably executing objectives with excellence. When team members trust their leadership and colleagues, they willingly invest more of themselves in the collective mission. This psychological investment manifests as increased innovation, resilience during challenges, and superior performance outcomes.

The Seven Levers of Discretionary Effort: Evidence from the Field

In Zenger Folkman’s study, we created a composite variable using the seven key leadership levers to explore their impact on discretionary effort. We surveyed 18,359 direct reports, asking them “to what extent they were willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for their particular leader.” Respondents also evaluated their leaders’ effectiveness on the seven previously identified levers.

The results, displayed graphically for 4,012 leaders, reveal a compelling relationship. The horizontal axis categorizes leaders into ten groups based on their composite effectiveness across all seven levers.  The vertical axis shows the percentage of direct reports who gave the highest possible rating to the statement: “My work environment is a place where people want to go the extra mile.”

This graph clearly demonstrates that leaders who excel at implementing these seven levers create environments where discretionary effort flourishes.  It provides quantitative evidence for what drives people to contribute beyond basic expectations.

Conclusion

The evidence is clear: leadership behavior significantly impacts discretionary effort from frontline employees. When leaders effectively implement the seven essential levers, they create workplaces where people naturally go above and beyond. Our research, involving over 18,000 direct reports, confirms that these elements don’t just incrementally improve performance; they fundamentally transform workplace engagement. The most successful leaders understand that their ultimate role isn’t simply driving compliance but creating conditions where people choose to invest their full potential. Mastering these seven levers builds environments where discretionary effort isn’t the exception but the standard—ultimately delivering superior organizational outcomes while simultaneously enhancing employee satisfaction and retention.

Jack Zenger, CEO of Zenger Folkman