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<v Speaker 1>Hey, this is Chris with Hacking Leadership on today's discussion

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<v Speaker 1>on employee engagement.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to talk about the importance.

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<v Speaker 1>Of getting and maintaining clarity of goals and expectations between

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<v Speaker 1>you and your leader. You know, on this show, Lorenzo

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<v Speaker 1>and I talk about the importance of clarity and how

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<v Speaker 1>one of your responsibilities as a leader of people is

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<v Speaker 1>to provide clarity to your people on what the goals

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<v Speaker 1>and expectations are, not just of their role in general,

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<v Speaker 1>but of the moment. And you know, in organizations, the

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<v Speaker 1>goals or the objectives can change by an annual or

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<v Speaker 1>a quarterly basis, but sometimes it can feel like those

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<v Speaker 1>goals are changing based on a moment by moment basis

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<v Speaker 1>when leaders don't have kind of the ability to decipher

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<v Speaker 1>between what's important and what's urgent. And you know, I've

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<v Speaker 1>been in situations before where I didn't have that clarity

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<v Speaker 1>between my leader and myself, and it led to me

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<v Speaker 1>spending time on things weren't as important but they felt

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<v Speaker 1>important at the moment, and it ended up being that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, time was being wasted on those things versus

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<v Speaker 1>what was was really important. You know, in order to

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<v Speaker 1>be successful in a role. Obviously, you need to align

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<v Speaker 1>with the priorities of your leader, and in a perfect world,

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<v Speaker 1>all leaders would be clear about what those expectations are,

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<v Speaker 1>what the priorities are, but some leaders aren't as great

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<v Speaker 1>at being clear about those things. You know, and if you,

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<v Speaker 1>as an employee, want to take more ownership over your

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<v Speaker 1>career or the outcomes associated with your career, the doors

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<v Speaker 1>that open for you when it comes.

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<v Speaker 2>To getting your job done correctly.

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<v Speaker 1>It can sometimes take a responsibility on your end to

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<v Speaker 1>gain that clarity if it's not being provided to you.

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<v Speaker 1>I've been in situations where I've gone to my boss

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<v Speaker 1>and said, hey, you know, what's how am I doing?

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<v Speaker 2>You know, what is my performance doing?

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<v Speaker 1>Well? What are what are the things that I should

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<v Speaker 1>be working on that I'm not working on? And I

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<v Speaker 1>have received answers something like, oh, yeah, you're doing great

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<v Speaker 1>or yeah, I just keep doing what you're doing. And

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<v Speaker 1>that can feel great in the moment, like Okay, I

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<v Speaker 1>guess I'm doing the right thing, but if that doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>align with what's going on, you know, a month or

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<v Speaker 1>two months down the road, when we have performance discussions

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm getting talked to by my leader about you

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<v Speaker 1>know what I've not done right or what I should

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<v Speaker 1>have been working on. Then it can feel very bad

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<v Speaker 1>for me as the employee that I've been almost put

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<v Speaker 1>in a situation where I didn't know I should have

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<v Speaker 1>been doing something, or I've put too much focus or

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<v Speaker 1>time and effort or attention into the things that felt

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<v Speaker 1>important in the moment but weren't necessarily the bigger picture

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<v Speaker 1>things that I should have been working on. It took

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<v Speaker 1>me a while to realize that when I didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>this clarity, it was less that my boss was being

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<v Speaker 1>difficult or you know, didn't want to put the effort in,

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<v Speaker 1>and more likely that the cause of that was probably

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<v Speaker 1>a lack of clarity in themselves on what the goals were,

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<v Speaker 1>either because their leader wasn't being forthcoming or it wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>painting a good picture about what the priority should be.

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<v Speaker 1>And now that kind of trickles downhill where the leader

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<v Speaker 1>that is feeling like their priorities are vague, all they

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<v Speaker 1>can do is pass on that ambiguity to their team,

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<v Speaker 1>and then everybody kind of falls under the same situation

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<v Speaker 1>where they're focusing on whatever feels urgent in the moment

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<v Speaker 1>as opposed to the more important goals or the.

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<v Speaker 2>Bigger picture of things.

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<v Speaker 1>And when I first start thinking about this, my kind

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<v Speaker 1>of knee jerk reaction is to say, well, that's not

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<v Speaker 1>more responsibility, you know, like this is this is more

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<v Speaker 1>effort or kind of like, you know, expending emotional capital

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<v Speaker 1>to get into the head of my boss when it

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<v Speaker 1>should be their responsibility to provide.

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<v Speaker 2>The information to me. And that's not wrong. It is

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<v Speaker 2>their responsibility.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you want to make sure that your career,

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<v Speaker 1>or your aspirations, or the doors that are opened or

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<v Speaker 1>closed for you aren't completely controlled by somebody else and

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<v Speaker 1>you want to have more ownership over that, it might

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<v Speaker 1>take effort on your part to talk to your boss

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<v Speaker 1>to figure it out. And sometimes, you know, the high

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<v Speaker 1>level questions that we ask about those things are met

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<v Speaker 1>with answers that don't seem to provide any further clarity

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<v Speaker 1>than what we had going into it. And so what

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<v Speaker 1>I want to talk about is how to best make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that the time that you're spending at work is

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<v Speaker 1>on items that would be considered promotable work, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>things that you can hang your hat on at night

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<v Speaker 1>and say I accomplished this that will align with the

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<v Speaker 1>organizational objectives of your company as a whole, or the

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<v Speaker 1>broader leadership structure within the organization, as opposed to just

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<v Speaker 1>your boss who might be telling you what to do

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<v Speaker 1>based on what feels urgent in the moment, but isn't

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily you know, the bigger picture priority things. And so

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<v Speaker 1>I want to go over a couple of questions that

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<v Speaker 1>you can ask your boss that will kind of help decode.

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<v Speaker 2>That that language a little bit.

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<v Speaker 1>Things that you can say that will be more likely

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<v Speaker 1>to elicit a candid response or a more accurate response

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<v Speaker 1>if you happen to be reporting to a leader who

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<v Speaker 1>isn't good at being forthcoming with what this information is

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<v Speaker 1>or what you should really be working on. So I

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<v Speaker 1>want to go over some of those questions, but first

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<v Speaker 1>let's get to one of our sponsors. All right.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're trying to.

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<v Speaker 1>Gain clarity or validate the clarity you think you already

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<v Speaker 1>have on the things you should be working on, some

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<v Speaker 1>of the questions that you should be asking your boss

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<v Speaker 1>are things like what goals do they discuss with their boss?

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<v Speaker 1>The importance of this question is that it kind of

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<v Speaker 1>reveals what impacts the performance or reviews or appraisals of

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<v Speaker 1>your boss, So what metrics do they get taught about

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<v Speaker 1>first with their boss as opposed to just having them

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<v Speaker 1>try to translate it to you on their own. If

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<v Speaker 1>you ask them specifically what they are kind of tracked

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<v Speaker 1>on or what leads to a performance appraisal result that

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<v Speaker 1>we consider positive versus negative from their boss, the answer

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<v Speaker 1>they give you to this is likely what's important to

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<v Speaker 1>their boss, and then that is likely what should be

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<v Speaker 1>important to you as well. And so when you're bringing

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<v Speaker 1>this up, the important thing is to ask what things

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<v Speaker 1>does your boss talk to you about first when they

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<v Speaker 1>have a conversation. So when you sit down with your

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<v Speaker 1>boss to figure out, you know, what your progression is,

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<v Speaker 1>what are the things that your boss brings up first?

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<v Speaker 1>If you ask that of your boss, then those are

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<v Speaker 1>likely the things that you should be working on first

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<v Speaker 1>as well. The next question you can ask is, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>what are the projects that we're working on right now

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<v Speaker 1>that spend the most time in your head? Basically what

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<v Speaker 1>keeps you up at night. And the reason you want

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<v Speaker 1>to ask it this way is because it removes yourself

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<v Speaker 1>from the equation altogether, and hopefully it will get a

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<v Speaker 1>more honest or candid response from your leader because you're

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<v Speaker 1>asking them about the things that impact them. Those are

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<v Speaker 1>the things that your boss might struggle on getting done.

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<v Speaker 1>And if they're struggling with getting it done, they are

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<v Speaker 1>very likely going to struggle with providing you the clarity

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<v Speaker 1>that you need to get it done as well. And

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<v Speaker 1>so it kind of gives them an opportunity to show

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<v Speaker 1>a little vulnerability and tell you what are the things

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<v Speaker 1>that are kind of bothering them or the things that

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<v Speaker 1>they don't have enough time to work on, and then

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<v Speaker 1>you can decide how much of that you can take

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<v Speaker 1>on on your plate, because anything that you can do

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<v Speaker 1>to again further align your actions with the priorities of

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<v Speaker 1>your boss are the things they're going to work out

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<v Speaker 1>better for you. When it comes to performance appraisals or

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<v Speaker 1>quarterly or annual talent assessments or ratings that you might get.

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<v Speaker 1>The last question might be the most important one, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's to ask your boss what the difference between good

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<v Speaker 1>and great performance looks like. But it's important to word

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<v Speaker 1>it a certain way. Ask your boss what good looks

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<v Speaker 1>like when it comes to results and how you're spending

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<v Speaker 1>your time, and let them tell you what that looks

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<v Speaker 1>like without interrupting, let them go through that entire answer,

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<v Speaker 1>and then once they answer that question, fallow up with

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<v Speaker 1>it and say, okay, that's perfect.

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<v Speaker 2>What does great performance look like?

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<v Speaker 1>Now? And so what you're saying is the things that

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<v Speaker 1>they've just said to you in that answer would be

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<v Speaker 1>what will be considered kind of meeting expectations.

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<v Speaker 2>Or what good performance looks like?

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<v Speaker 1>And then now you want to find out what is

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<v Speaker 1>great look like. If you ask them the difference between

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<v Speaker 1>good and great right up front, then you're likely to

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<v Speaker 1>only get a response of what they considered it to

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<v Speaker 1>be great, but might only just be what good performance

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<v Speaker 1>looks like. So you have to wait till they answer

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<v Speaker 1>the question on what good looks like to then follow

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<v Speaker 1>up and ask them what does great look like? The

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<v Speaker 1>answer to this secondary follow up question is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be the difference between performing at a kind of meeting

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<v Speaker 1>expectations level or exceeding expectations, and that could be all

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<v Speaker 1>the difference in the world between what doors open for you,

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<v Speaker 1>even if you happen to be working for a leader

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<v Speaker 1>who isn't great at laying this out to begin with,

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<v Speaker 1>or providing.

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<v Speaker 2>The clarity that they should be providing.

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<v Speaker 1>And then the last thing I want to mention when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to this is that if you're having difficulty

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<v Speaker 1>gaining this clarity from your boss, make sure that that

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't translate into your inability to provide clarity to your

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<v Speaker 1>team members, the people that report to you. So, if

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<v Speaker 1>you're a leader of people who is feeling this with

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<v Speaker 1>your boss, then it's likely that you have a difficult

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<v Speaker 1>time kind of trickling it down to your people, not

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<v Speaker 1>because you don't want to, but because if you don't

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<v Speaker 1>understand what good looks like, if you don't understand what

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<v Speaker 1>the expectations are, if you don't have that clarity, how

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<v Speaker 1>do you then translate that to give it to your people.

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<v Speaker 1>And so if you're going through these conversations with your boss,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're having these issues and you're trying to solve them,

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that you understand that that means that it's

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<v Speaker 1>like your people are feeling the same thing, because if

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<v Speaker 1>you were very easily able to translate it to them,

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<v Speaker 1>that means you already know.

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<v Speaker 2>What you should be doing.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you don't know what you should be doing,

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<v Speaker 1>then you're not articulating it.

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<v Speaker 2>Correctly to your people as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And so as you're getting this clarity, make sure you

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<v Speaker 1>don't keep it to yourself, make sure you don't know

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<v Speaker 1>just run with it on what you should be doing,

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<v Speaker 1>but that you bring your people in on it too,

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<v Speaker 1>because if they feel more clarity on what the expectations are,

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<v Speaker 1>then they have more control over their own career progress

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<v Speaker 1>and they will likely become more engaged in their work

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<v Speaker 1>because they understand that the things that they see you

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<v Speaker 1>working on are the things you're also asking them to

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<v Speaker 1>work on, and that will sit very well with them.

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<v Speaker 2>And making sure they understand that they.

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<v Speaker 1>Are focusing on the right things, that they are considering

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<v Speaker 1>bigger picture things and not just was urgent during the moment.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining me today and listening. We'll see you

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<v Speaker 1>next Thursday for the next discussion of employee engagement.

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<v Speaker 2>You have a great day.