Often I hear from leaders that they want their teams to be more motivated, or proactive, or higher performing. And then they ask, “Is there a training?”

But training isn’t the answer.

We need to get to the heart of the issue, and that means figuring out the root problem. From there we can create an integrated approach that combines learning, practicing skills and shifting mindsets through coaching. Ultimately, this results in better engaged leaders and teams.

My role: empower the leader.

By asking the right questions, we can understand a little bit more about the issue before coming up with optimal solutions that involve the leader and the team.

Let’s look at an example

A leader says: “My team needs to be more proactive and share ideas.” I’ll ask these questions to probe deeper:

“The team doesn’t have much to say. Sometimes they’ll talk only when prompted to speak. It feels like people are just doing their work in silos.”

It’s helpful to know and understand the situation from the leader’s perspective first.  Sometimes it’s not obvious because we’re focusing too much on the output: people aren’t speaking up. However, we’ll discover that the reasons could be deeper. For example, there may be an innate fear of reprisal or ridicule, or the team simply doesn’t feel there’s any incentive to contribute.  

“I’m not sure…I always assumed that people should know to speak up. To me, I expect people to openly share ideas and question the status quo.”

The leader needs to clarify what their expectations are. It’s possible that they haven’t been clear or assumed the team would automatically be on the same page. It also sounds like people may opt to be quiet because it doesn’t feel safe to challenge each other. Team engagement rules should be revisited here, along with rewarding opportunities for sharing ideas.

“I can tell that some people would like to speak up more if given the opportunity. A couple of them have some great ideas. The team would be motivated with greater individual visibility and the opportunity to shine more.”

Buy-in is key for any team to follow the vision. They are the engine behind the project and they drive success as long as they feel motivated, rewarded and empowered. It’s critical for the leader to tap into people’s individual motivators and bring out their best. Sometimes that means the leader has to get out of the way more and allow others to shine.

“I need to stop rushing in with solutions and filling the silence. I can give people more opportunities to share ideas and lead meetings. I need to feel OK with ideas that are different than mine.”

I love asking this question because the leader has tremendous influence to make great things happen. How? Just by doing the littlest things: speaking less, empowering others to lead, providing rewards and incentives, and establishing ground rules for people to feel included. 

In sum, here’s what we discovered and our plan for this leader:

🔸 POSSIBLE REASONS

People are afraid to speak up and share ideas

OPTIONS

• The leader and team together set safe boundaries to speak up
• Establish rules of engagement

🔸 POSSIBLE REASONS

Expectations and rewards aren’t clear about being proactive

OPTIONS

• Leader needs to clarify everyone’s role in speaking up and provide incentives
• Lead a dialogue on the importance of speaking up and self-leadership

🔸 POSSIBLE REASONS

Manager is talking too much in meetings, wanting to fill the silence

OPTIONS

• Encourage others to lead meetings 
• Get the leader to follow the motto, “Ask first, speak last.”

Shifting behaviors

After we understand the problem, we work together to come up with targeted solutions that will be owned by the team and reinforced by the leader. My step-by-step approach includes:

• Pre-assessment.
• Visioning/brainstorming: where do we want to go?
• Learning workshop, kicked off by the leader.
• On-the-job practice and ongoing feedback.
• Post-learning coaching for self-reflection.