Nail Your Year-End Goals for 2019
How to Energize Your Team with Two Simple Tweaks
This is the ninth installment in our High-Impact Team Series. If you would like to read all installments of the series, click here.
If your confidence in reaching your year-end goals is waning, regroup with your team and make sure they are set up for success with specific outcome expectations and the "mojo" that comes with ownership.
For many of us in this business who are “of a certain age,” managing people is a challenge. Most of us started with a desk and a phone and succeeded because we knew how to get an appointment and close a deal. Based on Gallup’s extensive research and analysis, “The sought-after talent combination that characterizes great managers only exists in about one in 10 people.”
Unless you're ready to hire a great manager, try these two achievement accelerators:
1. The Outcome-Oriented Approach
To empower your A-Players to help you reach your year-end goals, make sure THEIR goals are in the form of SMART outcomes (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound).
2. Allow Ownership
When you own something, you have a psychological attachment to it rather than a vague sense of responsibility. Here’s what real ownership sounds like:
“This is MY baby! The success of this project depends completely on me.”
Once you’ve determined an outcome, resist the temptation to explain how it should be done. I know your way has worked great, but you hired A-Players because you need people you can trust and depend on, not monkeys. If you lay out the whole process for them, you may inadvertently create boundaries around the project. Let them bring their fresh and energetic brain cells to it.
Achievement is accelerated when expectations are perfectly clear — AND you stay out of their way. As always, your focused leadership in this area will result in a more engaged team, which is associated with higher profits and more engaged clients. Do you need an extra hand in reaching your goals? Let’s hear from you on issues you’d like addressed in the comment area below.
To learn more about how Engagement=Profits, go to Qii’s Resources and check out 12 Signs Your Employees are Engaged and How Employee Engagement Affects Company Performance. Subscribe to The Qii Freedom and Growth Chronicles for more tools and ideas on how to 10x your business.
