“Do you like the work you did?”

When I run consulting projects, this is my go-to question. When a junior consultant presents an analysis, work product, presentation, or most anything, I ask, “What do you think?”  “How do you like it?”

It’s not a trick question

As a manager, the more I can trust the team the better. I love democracy mode of work – everyone is a corporate citizen with a clear understanding of the end destination, and eager to do great work. Fundamentally, I want people who take pride in their work, have a sense of what “good looks like”, and are self-aware.

Please be proud of your work

If you are not proud of your work, that’s not a good sign.  As you can see from the diagram below, I don’t think your manager (or your client) will have more confidence than you:

  • They didn’t cleanse the data, take out outliers, determine the benchmarking cohort
  • They didn’t do the research or create the footnotes
  • They are trusting your professionalism

If confidence shrinks a little bit each time, then we better start with a tall stack of well-earned confidence, stemming from competence.  Your work is good and you know it. Strong opinions, loosely held.

Do the Work

How can you be “confident” in your work? Scope the edge of the puzzle, be clear on the objective, audience, format, timeline. Ask smart, clarifying questions in advance. Have people proof-read it. Ask for help in advance. 

Good response: Yes, I think it’s good

I love to hear this response. You are showing accountability, pride, and confidence. I am less inclined to check each of the excel formulas because you said it was good. Assume good intent.

Good response: Yes, I think it’s good, AND if I had more time. . . 

Love this too. It shows that you are thinking ahead. You are thinking in trade-offs.  If I have 5 more hours, I would do XYZ.  If I had 15 more hours, I would do ABC.

Good response: Yes, I think it’s good, the main weaknesses could be . . .  

Love this too. Yes, I know this sounds like a love-fest. You are thinking like a partner. You are anticipating what questions the client could ask. You are scenario planning. You are mitigating risk, you are making it bullet-proof.

Weak response: Well, it’s Okay.

Uh oh. This is not good. It is a drop of poison in the well of confidence. It might not be deadly, but it’s not safe. It’s hedging, it sounds like an excuse, it’s leaving an “exit”.  It says, “if it’s no good, it’s only partially my fault.”

Weak response: I did what you asked.

Uh oh. This is not pretty. This is compliance, not ownership. This is what a disgruntled teenager says to their parent when they were asked to do some chores. Lack of heart, lack of ownership, lack of enthusiasm.

 

Open up the conversation

In the same way that we run the client interviews by asking open ended questions upfront. This is a way to open the doors and windows and let in some fresh air. Allow breathing room for creativity, self-expression, and the most important things. Yes, millennials and Gen Z want to be heard. Yes, everyone wants to be heard.

Get the best ideas out first

What your team wants to say is important, and the first thing they say is probably most useful. You may find it to be the same point you were going to discuss anyways, but a lot of times it’s something that you overlook. Don’t be afraid to change up the agenda. Don’t be afraid to disagree. Idea fight club.

Get the pulse of your team

Understand their emotions and state of mind. Most of the work we do as consultants is very contextual. It’s not a question of black and white. It’s not a question of profit and loss. It’s a question of cross functional nuances, office politics, pride, fear, greed, all the human emotions. Same goes for our teams.

What is their frame of mind?

  • Tracking with the mission or confused?
  • Excited with the work or bored?
  • Engaged or distant?
  • Intellectually curious or looking to just “get through it”?

Without getting too psycho-babble about it, these cues come from word choice, energy level, volume, and tone of voice. Get to know your team.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Have people own their work

By soliciting interaction and ownership from your team, you are rowing the boat together. It’s very easy for people to throw stones when they are not responsible in anyway. It’s less easy to throw stones, when you were given a voice to say something and chose not to take it. BOOM. 

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