Go Review Yourself!
Before you judge, look in the mirror
When we talk to employees about performance issues, we often spend an amazing amount of time creating the “sandwich” conversation. You know what I am talking about — positivity and compliments at the beginning and end. We focus HUGE amounts of time thinking about how to give constructive feedback, and little time really reflecting on how we might have caused the outcome in the first place.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me about a senior executive who asked her to rate her own effectiveness. Feeling confident, she gave herself an A-. The executive shook his head in agreement and then asked the following…
“How do you rate each of your direct reports?”
It turned out that the team’s average score was a B. So is her own performance assessment accurate? Or should she have rated herself a B instead of an A?
I believe that as a leader, you are only as effective as the team you have working for you, but that doesn’t always mean that you hired incorrectly. You could have plucked a super star from the competition only to find yourself giving them a D six months later. So, before you reprimand the team, dive into the weeds to fix the problem or make significant staffing changes, look in the mirror first and ask the following questions:
- Did you establish a vision and winning strategy from the onset?
- Did you spend time getting everyone on board? Better yet, did you include them in developing the plan?
- Did you co-develop clear and measurable goals with each team member? Can your team easily assess their own performance and report to you on how they did?
If that employee who is sitting on the other side of the table has a shocked look on their face when you give feedback, the answer is “no”.
Having come from an organization that did away with the standard performance reviews years ago, I can tell you how critical goal creation actually is. At first, people were relieved. It gave permission to stop having those hard and often annual conversations with employees. But, many people lost focus on setting measurable goals. The vision was there, the strategy was set and bought into, but the goals were wishy-washy. I found myself doing one of two things without proper goals — checking in too frequently or diving into the weeds myself to help them.
Without setting up goals from the very beginning, your chances of having an A+ team are very slim.
When you spend time laying the foundation, you can let go of the day to day. The team feels trusted and in control of their own destiny. It takes the emotion out of performance discussions and puts the focus on taking ownership, learning from one’s own mistakes and getting to know one another. It allows the conversation to be more personal — you move from manager to coach and from dictator to inspirer. And most importantly, it allows you to focus on your real job as a leader — getting out of the building, spending time with customers, and being inspired to create the future.
By taking more time up front, your team can go faster, stay three steps ahead, test more and win more.
I am not saying that you should hold on to employees who are not performing. If anything, I have learned the important lesson of ripping off that band-aid quickly. By communicating vision and establishing goals up front, you will be able to expedite those hard decisions.
So, what grade would you give your team? If you don’t come back with an A, it’s time to look in the mirror and get to work.
Recommended resources:
Strategic Framework by Roger Martin & A.G. Lafley
Google’s OKR video: Objectives & Key Results
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