Dear Missing,

The good news is you’re actually on the right track!

By the middle of February, every single leader we work with has already set their annual goals using a cascading framework . They’ve gotten inputs from their leadership team and employees. Everyone knows exactly where they are headed and set out to accomplish their goals without hiccups, bumps, or bruises.

It’s just smooth sailing for the rest of the year…

Wait.

Kidding. We’re kidding!

As you can imagine, this kind of success just doesn’t happen.

Even leaders who successfully create near-perfect strategic plans with their teams often struggle when the time comes to actually get the work done. Throw human frailty, market conditions, and other forces outside of your control into the mix and you’ll hit a jumble of emotional reactions, starts, fits, and stalls no matter the time of year.

In other words, your experience is completely normal.

From our work with teams (validated by Gallup) over the last decade, we know typical organizations have about 30% of the folks in their boat rowing confidently in the direction they created together. Another 50% have their oars in the water, contributing without resistance yet without a lot of power. The remaining 20% are subtly or not so subtly rowing backwards, against the current direction and challenging the vision, plan, and goals of the organization.

Reading this, your first thought might be “Crap! Now you’re telling me I have to motivate 70% of my team to start rowing in the right strategic direction?!”

Not necessarily. It turns out much smaller efforts actually can have dramatic, positive effects.

If we do a little math by adding forward effort, subtracting backward effort, and multiplying non-effort by zero we get a total forward effort [30% - 20% + zero times 50%] equaling +10%. In effect, one person is pulling ten forward.

So if we can get just one more person to start rowing forward or just one more person to stop rowing backwards we’ll get +20% or double the power to our boat. Add another person’s forward effort and we have three times our original power. This demonstrates why a small shift in motivation can have such a large impact in most organizations.

So how to start getting your boat moving faster toward that desired long-term success?

1.Empower those who are rowing backwards

Wait! Keep reading. It’s not what you think!

Back when you were making the plan with your team, these dissenters - the ones currently doing the opposite of what the organization needs - did not fully commit to the future the rest of the team was creating. They may have nodded along, yet in their heads or hearts there were hesitations and reasons to resist your vision. Reasons they are acting on right now.

It’s time for a “Yes, but…” conversation:

Set up a meeting with each person and start the conversation with something like, “I’ve noticed a couple of things recently I’m concerned about in getting to [our shared future]. I’m hoping we can talk openly about the possibilities and come up with some creative solutions. I value your contributions and am curious about your perspective.”

Share one example of “I noticed recently instead of [helping us move forward] you [rowed backwards]. Wouldn’t you want to [help us move forward]?”

Wait patiently for the “Yes, but I couldn’t because…”

Write out their hesitation or concern on a white board or big piece of paper. Encourage them to keep sharing with “Ok - what else?” Keep writing and DON’T CORRECT THEM OR SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS!! Repeat until they’re out of issues.

Then ask “So which of these do we know for sure?” Help them explore their thinking. Get them to identify the concerns they feel are real. Ask them to cross through the concerns that aren’t.

Finally, ask “What do you think we could do about those?” Listen honestly, write the ideas down - or have your employee do so - until, again, the idea well is dry.

Hopefully, at least one solution is doable by the employee with some authority from you. Instead of “I agree,” say “You’re right on this one!” and empower them to go try their solution out. Ask “How will you know you’re successful?” then offer any small tweaks before getting their commitment of when to come back to report results.

While they may start rowing forward, that isn’t actually your goal. You need your employee to start feeling they matter and, as a result, can stop fighting you and/or the organization. In this group, every oar resting in the water means more forward power overall.

Missing - next you can start working to shift the motivation of those who aren’t helping forward progress:

2.Help those not pulling forward find their motivation to contribute

Successful leaders build relationships and take the time to communicate how valuable people and their contributions are to the business. Make a list of the employees you manage or interact with on a daily basis and answer the question for each: “How is who they are and what they care about advanced by what they are doing for our organization?”

This is a tough one. Feel free to take a few minutes to reflect on your team members.

If you’re feeling stumped, it’s ok. Many leaders have a hard time not assuming what motivates themselves is what motivates others.

Here are a few questions you can ask in formal check-ins and hallway conversations to help reveal peoples’ motivations at work:

What do you find that’s cool about this job? What energizes you?
What drives you crazy around here? What would you change if you could?
What do you tell your friends and family about your work?

If you’re on the right track, their body language will open up and their eyes will light up as they talk. If you’re met with silence or uncertainty, you may want to try a “Yes, but…” conversation (outlined above).

Assuming they are jazzed about their answers, you can take the opportunity to inspire connections between their contributions and influence they have in the lives of others.

Missing - we’re not talking the generic “Good job!”- give-a-high-five method. We’re talking about giving them a real, earnest compliment:

Start with “Thank you for [specific example of behavior].”
Then share a connection between what they did and how it impacts the company.
Finish with a sentiment - for example “We’re lucky to have you on our team.” or “I know you’ll continue to make a positive difference.”

Here are some specific examples:

An owner of a liquor store inspires and motivates a cashier as she says, “Thank you for taking time to be accurate with our customers. Your carefulness to give correct change helps our clients trust us and builds our reputation as a business people can count on. I appreciate your efforts to strengthen our company.”
A busy CEO motivates her administrator when she says, “Thank you for the way you build relationships with our customers on the phone. Your friendly voice and efficient manner goes a long way in helping our clients feel like they belong. This doesn’t come naturally to everyone and you are so good at it.”
A manager reinforces a sense of purpose when he tells someone on the bottling line, “Thank you for your attention to detail. By catching that error, you’ve saved the company hundreds of dollars this week. I appreciate how you continue to bring value to our team and organization.”

When you catch someone doing something great, you reinforce the positive and increase the likelihood of that behavior happening again.

You don’t even need to prepare. You can simply stop a person right after the helpful behavior and ask, “Wow! That was amazing. I’m curious, what do you think is positively different in this person’s life because of what you did there?”

When you let people know you notice them and allow them to realize how amazing they are, they will feel more valued at your organization.

Yes, Missing, it will take time to get the results you seek. Yet the actions above can go a long way in inspiring connection and purpose for those at all levels of your organization as you journey forward together.

Try these tips with your team and let us know how it goes. Remember, building personal capacity to contribute is like adding deposits to a savings account. The more you put in, the bigger the compounding effect, and the greater the reward for everyone.

If you’d like other tips for inspiring engagement and purpose at your organization, let’s connect.