Best Better?

There is no doubt that most of us give our best at work every day however, do we know what our best is and are we improving and providing the opportunity for ourselves and our teams best to get better?

As individuals we should to be hungry to learn and widen our sphere of knowledge, both related to our work and external factors. Drill down on subjects that we come across that, at first, do not fully comprehend, be inquisitive – put your hand up – and innovative – push the boundaries. Our goal should be continuous improvement of our work tools, landscape, and ourselves. Better Never Stops.

Leaders need to create an environment for personal development. Enable this through open engagement and frequent, authentic feedback to grow an understanding of where their teams’ strong areas are, what incentivises them and what tools, equipment, training etc. they require to improve their performance or increase output.

Key to these relationships and feedback loops – it goes both ways – is an environment of openness and trust: without this team members will be guarded, and the development process will not flow.

Knowing our people is essential, so network do the research. A blend of formal and informal feedback can work – frequent interactions setting the scene for a more structured review and development plan. Authentic engagement and actionable purpose will progress potential. Frequent touch points mean that focussing on the past can be minimised – the results are already in – and future planning can be the real focus of any Personal Development Review. Progressive feedback is neither negative or positive, just genuine and developmental.

Actively encourage feedback on your own performance. This will help you improve, create an environment of expression and trust, and legitimise feedback and development within the group.

Our team also need room to breathe, make some mistakes and learn. We are all going to tumble over at some point, and it is better to fall early while learning to walk independently – grazing your knee teaches us not to do it again – than go down sprinting after having your hand held through the evolution process. The role of a leader is to support their people to fulfil their potential and, in the process, build a great team. Focus on their success, be credible, available and approachable.