When I was a kid I hated chores. My parents asked me to do all sorts of things I detested: eat my vegetables, clean my room, come inside before dark. I simply didn’t understand. Later, I came to learn that each direction was backed by a wisdom-laden rationale. Once I understood (and agreed with) my parent’s rationale, I stopped asking, “Why?” at every instance. How does this relate to how you lead your team?

An innate desire to understand

No one likes to hear the phrase, “Because I said so.” Something in us finds it hard to blindly follow orders. Often we resent the one who made the command. This is because we seek to clarify and to understand why we do what we do.

I’m reminded of a story I’ve heard multiple times, told by Zig Ziglar in See You at the Top. A wife is in the kitchen cooking the Christmas ham. As her husband walks in she is cutting the end off the ham. Being curious, he asked her why she did that. In her honesty, she explained, “I cut off the end of the ham because that’s how her mother always did it.” The husband says, “she’s in the other room, let’s ask her why.” The mother-in-law relays to the husband that she cut off the ends of the ham because her mother always cut off the ends of the ham.”

Wanting to get to the bottom of this three generation mystery, the husband calls grandma. On the phone, “Grandma, why did you always cut off the ends of the ham before cooking it?” Grandma replied, “I cut off the ends of the ham because my roasting pan was too small.”

Mystery solved. There was no magic to it at all. Good ham went unenjoyed for years simply because the chefs were missing the rationale.

Why leaders should explain why

Leaders often find explaining themselves an unnecessary hassle. They can become frustrated when others question their positions or decisions.

However, leaders who regularly provide their team members with the rationale that led them to a given conclusion encounter less resistance. Why is that?

In fact, leaders who provide rationales find that, when they do, their teams are more motivated to carry out their individual roles to accomplish the task or project. How does explaining your rationale do that?

Here are 3 reasons sharing your rationale (your why) with your team boosts their motivation.

When team members know why things are done a certain way they are compelled to follow your lead. When employees simply comply, it’s often because they lack rationale. They are just being told what to do.

Daniel Pink, author of Drive, wrote that without a stated rationale team members will do one of two things: 1) comply or 2) defy. The first inhibits employee engagement; the second, undermines authority. Neither is a desirable quality great leaders aim for.

Motivate your team by providing purpose through rationale. Answer why question before they ever ask.
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We all want to know that our jobs or contributions are making a difference. Abraham Maslow titled this our need for transcendence – contributing to the betterment of our fellow man.

Imagine if an automotive assembly line worker in Henry Ford’s car manufacturing plant was told to rivet two rectangular sheets of metal together. Day after day, she did this. The two sheets of metal moved to her station on a conveyor belt for hours a day to be riveted together. Monotonous. Tedious. Pointless. Putting food on her family’s table was all that kept her showing up each morning.

However, would it change her perspective to learn that her riveting helped create the fire plate in the early automobile? This fire plate protected drivers and their passengers in case of an accident and further injury should the engine ignite. Might this bit of information alter her attitude?

Providing rationale helps your team see the difference they are making in the world.
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When leaders explain their purpose and intent, team members have the opportunity to align themselves with that purpose. This is often the intent behind company mission statements. A company hopes for and encourages their employees to take personal ownership and embrace their role in carrying out the mission.

When team members identify with the stated purpose of a task or project, the individual is supplying his or her own motivation. This is called autonomous motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

Leaders who tap into employees autonomous motivation reap rewards in morale & productivity.
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Keeping team members perpetually motivated is one of the biggest challenges leaders face. One way to do so is by consistently sharing your rationale. Leaders who communicate why they make decisions, prioritize projects or why a task is critical to overall success ignite ownership and a sense of purpose in their team.

Question: Ever had a leader leave you in the dark and not share his or her rationale? How did that affect your attitude, effort and motivation? Share your story the comments below.

Links:

• Book: See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar
• Book: Drive by Daniel Pink

The post Why: 3 Reasons Successful Leaders Share Their Rationale first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Do you feel satisfied in the progress you’re making on your goals? Like many of you, each new year I set my sights on next steps, progress, growth and achievements. I set BIG, scary goals. However, setting goals isn’t the hard part. Following through is.

Only 46% of Americans who set goals at the beginning of the year make it past 6 months. Establishing a goal review process can greatly increase your chances of following through on those lofty intentions.

How easily we lose track

Whether you aim to run a half marathon, save money or take that vacation to the tropics, keeping your goals visible, having accountability and checking in regularly go a long way toward helping you achieve what you set out to do.

Looking back, I can clearly see that the goals I failed to achieve are those I simply lost track of. The same may be true for you.

Adopt a regular goal review process

To avoid this common pitfall, I designed a goal review process for myself. In my free download, The Only 3 Apps I Use to Set, Plan & Track Goals, I explain how I set myself up to stay on track with my goals.

In this post, I’d like to share part of my follow-up process. Hopefully it will help you keep your goals on track and maintain the momentum necessary to succeed.

Here is my 3 step Goal Progress Review. Download my Evernote template for this here.

If you haven’t already done so, commit each of your goals to writing so you won’t forget them. This solidifies them and makes them tangible. It also gives you a greater sense of ownership over each one.

I’ve intentionally planned to work toward some of my goals later in the year. Even though I may start working on a goal later, I write it down so I can maintain awareness of it.

1. For each goal, respond to 3 specific prompts:

• List progress made, achievements met or personal victories. Essentially, since your last goal review, what positives or successes have occurred? These may be significant or even minor but it is still important to list them. By doing so you’ll gain a sense of pride, accomplishment and confidence, which fuels your momentum.
• What needs improving? This is where you take an honest look at what’s not working. What have you neglected, pushed aside or forgotten about? Perhaps you simply need to plan your grocery shopping better to ensure you eat healthy. Or maybe you need to plan your time better to get housework done so you can get in that extra run. Whatever it is, make a note of what needs improving.
• What lessons have you learned to help you going forward? As you work toward your goals, you inevitably learn along the way. It’s here that you want to capitalize on it. What’s working well for you? How was it that you got to the gym on Tuesday? What happened that triggered a cigarette craving on Monday? Learn from your successes and your failures. Apply those lessons  as you move forward!

2. Consolidate action items. After doing a quick scrub of each goal you’ve set using the 3 prompts above, collect next steps and to-dos. This packages up your goal review into the things you need to do. I suggest beginning each of these with a verb – something to do.

3. Assimilate to-dos. In this last step, the intent is to set yourself up for future success. Add action items to your to-do list. I use Wunderlist for this.

Set reminders to help you establish routines or hold yourself accountable. I have several that go off throughout the day to help keep me on track, using Coach.me.

Add insights to your journal, white board or notebook as appropriate so you can revisit them later.

A regular Goal Progress Review keeps your momentum going & your goals on track.
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Schedule your Goal Progress Review

You’re probably wondering, “How often am I supposed to use this Goal Progress Review?” Honestly, only you can answer that for yourself. I’ve found it depends on several factors: individuals, goals, and amounts of self-regulation. For some, once per week may be best. I’ve found that once per month works well for me. That said, I do check in on my progress for several goals everyday (using Coach.me).

Once you decide on a timeframe, schedule your Goal Progress Review on your calendar. Protect it like you would an important appointment, even though it is with yourself. If you really care about achieving your goals, you must make time to ensure you are keeping on track.

I encourage you to download my free Evernote template, customize it and find what will work best for you. The point is to stay aware of your goals, evaluate your progress and maintain the momentum you need to accomplish your goals.

Question: What other strategies help you stay on track with your goals? I’d love to hear your ideas or tools in the comments section.

• Template: Goal Progress Review
• Resource: Evernote
• Resource: Wunderlist
• Resource: Coach.me
• Post: Should You Keep Your Goals A Secret?
• Post: Size Matters. Set Your Sights on BIG, Scary Goals for 2015
• Post: One Word You Never Want to Leave Off Items On Your To-Do List
• Post: Take Your Goal Setting to the Next Level with Personalized Visuals

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The post “Good Job” Isn’t Good Enough: What It Means to Praise the Process first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

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In setting goals or targeting our own personal development, we typically focus on our shortcomings and weaknesses. However, refining the things we struggle with doesn’t exactly reveal our best or our greatest potential. Instead, I along with many others, propose you focus more on your strengths. When we are working, playing, and living in our strengths, we not only perform better, but we’re happier too.

 

The truth is that everyone has strengths, things that are best about us. They are made up of a unique combination of traits, characteristics, talents, and aptitudes that each of us possesses. Our strengths are naturally occurring within us and we employ them to varying degrees at work, in communication with others and to achieve our goals. Beyond that, we all have a group of top strengths that dominate our behaviors and actions; they come easily for us and we enjoy using them, whether we realize it or not. While improving weaknesses is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, research tells us that putting more energy into building up our strengths and being intentional in using them may just be the secret sauce you’ve been searching for.

 

In 2007, while reading Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman, I first took the VIA (Values in Action) Classification of Character Strengths, a validated strengths survey. My life has never been the same. Obviously, just taking the survey carried no magic in itself. It was the self-awareness, insight into who I am and the freedom it granted me to fully embrace my true self that made the survey meaningful. In the years that followed, I can honestly say, I have thrived like never before. This, the focus on what is best within us, embracing it and strengthening it, is the backbone of the exploding field of Positive Psychology.

 

Here are the top 5 reasons I choose to maximize my strengths and why you should do the same.

Reason #1: Increased energy

When I’m using my top strengths I feel more energized and less stressed. Often, time just flies by as I’m fully immersed in the task, loving it, as my strengths and abilities match the demands of the task. Often, this is referred to as flow or being in the zone. For me this happens when I’m investigating new things, creating something (like a blog post), making plans for the future or making progress on my goals. One study revealed that those who use their signature strengths are less stressed, which increases energy.

 

Reason #2: Increased engagement at work

When we have the opportunity to focus on our strengths every day, the research says, we are 6 times as likely to be engaged on the job. Furthermore, one study indicated that curiosity, zest, hope, gratitude, and spirituality are the top 5 strengths associated with work satisfaction across occupations. I have experienced this first hand. Today, I intentionally use my highest signature strength of curiosity in my everyday work and it has huge impact on how engaged I am at work.

 

Reason #3: Increased motivation

When I’m using my strengths I’m more enthusiastic about the task at hand and I’m more motivated because I identify more closely with what I’m doing. For example, I enjoy when my work requires me to strategize a plan for a client or create a speech on a new topic because I am a Strategic (according to the StrengthsFinder) and Curious (according to the VIA). One criteria for a strength to be included in the VIA to begin with is that individuals are naturally motivated to use it on their own, without encouragement or reward from others.

 

Reason #4: Increased goal achievement

The literature suggests that when we incorporate our strengths into our pursuit of achieving personally meaningful goals we are likely to experience greater positive emotions (ie. fulfillment), sustain our efforts and spiral upward to greater goal progress in the future. For me, this is absolutely true. A small but powerful example is when I read something that will help me achieve a goal. I feel excited, energized and driven to put the new information into action.

 

Reason #5: Increased life satisfaction, happiness

The research here just blows me away! Seriously, can you think of 3 people that you know who are unhappy with their daily life? It doesn’t have to be that way (and yes I understand there are a lot of factors at play). That said, people who use some of their signature strengths everyday are three times more likely to say they have an “excellent quality of life” than those who don’t. Sounds easy enough, right.

 

Some research suggests that strengths of hope and spirituality correlate the most with increased life satisfaction. An easy way to get started down this path is to pick one of your top strengths and use it in a new way for the next week, everyday. Be deliberate. People who do this have increased happiness and decreased depression for up to 6 months afterward, according to Martin Seligman’s latest book, Flourish. Astounding! For me, when I feed my curiosity daily by reading interesting articles on HuffPost or in my RSS feed, I enjoy it, learn new things and even share interesting tidbits with my family and friends, which boosts those relationships.

 

People are at their best when they are able to use their natural characteristics, traits and talents – the strengths in which they naturally excel. When I do what I am designed to do, putting my strengths, the best of who I am to work for me, then I am most likely to produce my best work. If you combine the reasons above of increasing energy, engagement, motivation, achievement and life satisfaction, it sure seems to form a recipe for success.

The post Strengths: No Longer a Secret Sauce first appeared on The Excelling Edge.