We’ve been discussing how to have a successful, healthy aligning conversation this week. You can read the intro, step one, step two, and step three to catch up if you need to. By way of reminder, we’ve defined an aligning conversation as:
A conversation that serves to nudge or redirect the path of someone you are leading in order to keep them performing in a way that increases organizational effectiveness.
The first step was to CELEBRATE what they are doing well, what their contribution to the organization is, etc. This is critically important. The second step was ALIGN. This is the portion where expectations are set/revisited, and very clear conversation regarding how the person has missed it occurs. After you’ve made it through the hard part of aligning, you move to the third step, to EQUIP them to succeed and do well. This is setting them up to be able to meet your expectations and feel that they have what they need to do well in the future.
Today I want to look at the final step in the aligning conversation.
ENCOURAGE
“But didn’t I already do this in the CELEBRATE part of the talk?” Well, sort of. You celebrated what they were already doing well. You celebrated them. But then you shared some areas of improvement. You helped build confidence by making sure they were equipped to succeed. But there’s one more step that really seals the deal: encouraging them on the journey. Here’s a great sentence we all need to work in to our vocabulary:
“I believe in you.” Has anyone ever told you that? Did it resonate with you? Did it give you that little extra umph you needed to persevere? Telling someone you believe in them goes beyond equipping. It encourages them to believe that there is someone cheering them on along the way, and that is so important!
There’s a lady I can think of right now at The Orchard who is a master encourager. She’s constantly encouraging me through kind emails, in person, and even through Twitter. Knowing there are people that support you and believe in you make you want to do better, to work harder, to give your best. And those we lead, need us to encourage them, to tell them they are doing good, that things are looking up, that we believe in them, that we believe they can make the necessary shifts, etc.
I’d encourage you (see how I worked that word in again) to consider not letting the ENCOURAGE portion of your aligning conversation the last time you encourage those you lead. Spend time writing encouraging emails and notes along the way, and see how much less you have to have aligning conversations.
So there you have it.
4 Steps to a Healthy Aligning Conversation.
- CELEBRATE
- ALIGN
- EQUIP
- ENCOURAGE
I hope that’s been helpful to you. It’s helped me to think through these things and write them down and pick them apart, and it makes me want to work harder at this in my life. I’d love it if you’d drop me a note and tell me what you think and how I could have made this better. Just make sure you start with CELEBRATE first!
As I conclude this series, I’ve been thinking a lot about the flip side of this: how to receive an aligning conversation well. This is something I struggle with some and I’m realizing more and more how my posture when I’m being aligned affects the outcome… so in the near future look for a post talking about how to be aligned well.
Deb Pawlak
February 21, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Larry,
Thanks for the time that you spent on writing “Aligning Conversations”. I’ve always had trouble with the “aligning” part, and always feel awkward in doing this. This has been very helpful to me and I will remember this post the next time I’m in that situation again:)