If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.~ John Quincy Adams
By Susan R. Meisinger
…[I]n a study published at the end of last year, the Surgeon General, reported that more than 27 million people in the U.S. reported current use of illicit drugs or misuse of prescription drugs in 2015, and over 66 million people (nearly a quarter of the adult and adolescent population) reported binge drinking in the past month. (more…)
So here’s a helpful list of 100 phrases — based off the book Effective Phrases For Performance Appraisals — that you should start including in your performance reviews. Keep in mind that these are starter phrases and you should be specific when you’re writing any feedback for reviews.
1. Achieves optimal levels of performance and accomplishment with / for …
2. Provides strong evidence of [specific accomplishment]
3. Excels at developing programs / strategies that have delivered X results
4. Improved production by X% through [specific task]
5. Exceeded the original goal of X by X% through [specific task]
6. Continuously examines administrative effectiveness and seeks better procedures such as [tasks]
7. Develops successful administrative strategies such as [task] that led to [results]
8. Establishes effective systems for information retrieval through [task]
9. Improves administrative support systems through [task]
10. Keeps documents organized via [task] to avoid duplicate information
11. Shows a sincere interest in employees and the solutions to their problems
12. Lends support and guidance to employees by [task]
13. Uses sound coaching techniques to solve disciplinary problems
14. Provides continuous coaching
15. Is highly respected by employees for sharing concerns, problems, and opportunities
16. Effectively communicates expectations
17. Excels in facilitating group discussions
18. Keeps meetings action oriented by [task]
19. Effectively communicates upward, downward, and laterally
20. Enforces company policies and values without creating negative reactions
21. Encourages collaboration with the team
22. Shares ideas and techniques
23. Builds strong relationships with others by [task]
24. Displays a harmonious and cooperative spirit by [task]
25. Gladly shares expertise
26. Seeks creative alternatives such as [examples] that drove [results]
27. Clever and imaginative when confronted with obstacles
28. Is continuously experimenting to drive [results]
29. Initiates and executes creative ideas such as [example]
30. Seeks new ideas and approaches
31. Empowers employees with the authority and resources to achieve X results
32. Helps employees gain visibility through [task]
33. Encourages employees to solve their own problems
34. Delegates to match personal strengths
35. Delegates with clearly defined responsibility and authority
36. Develops continuous improvement methods
37. Develops totally new strategies
38. Continues to grow and improve
39. Devises improved means of accomplishing results
40. Is continuously planning for improvement
41. Develops innovative strategies such as [example] …
42. Is very innovative under adverse conditions
43. Seeks innovative solutions
44. Fosters a curiosity for innovative possibilities
45. Promotes innovation by [example]
46. Recognizes the needs of others and reaches out to lend a helping hand
47. Establishes effective working relationships
48. Generates synergy
49. Builds on mutual dependence and understanding
50. Promotes the company culture among peers
51. Displays an ability to learn rapidly and adapt quickly to changing situations
52. Shares learning experience with peers
53. Promotes a learning culture
54. Committed to continuously learning through [example]
55. Responds quickly to new instructions, situations, methods, and procedures
56. Provides team with support through [example]
57. Collaborates with individual team members to establish a development path
58. Holds employees accountable for their own results
59. Provides team with the resources needed to attain restults
60. Provides support during periods of organizational change
61. Develops workable action plans
62. Creates flexible plans to meet changing opportunities
63. Effectively puts plans into action
64. Excels in developing strategic alternatives
65. Effectively formulates strategies, tactics, and action plans to drive X results
66. Is capable of distinguished performance in a higher-level position
67. Has reached the level for promotional consideration
68. Is capable of handling bigger projects and assignments
69. Is making a strong effort to acquire greater experience and skills to increase potential for advancement
70. Is enhancing growth potential through additional education and training
71. Displays a practical approach to solving problems
72. Develops creative solutions
73. Turns problems into opportunities
74. Effectively solves problems rather than symptoms
75. Is skilled in proposing optional solutions
76. Exceeds normal output standards
77. Continuously produces more than expected
78. Is an important contributor to the successes of the department
79. Makes a substantial contribution to the continued operation and growth of the organization
80. Consistently exceeds performance goals
81. Completed X project with X results
82. Sets realistic timetables to keep projects on target
83. Is transparent with a project’s progress
84. Makes effective use of all available resources when given a project
85. Clearly establishes project goals and objectives
86. Gives consistent recognition to employees
87. Maintains a work situation which stimulates the growth of individual employees
88. Makes certain that employees have a clear understanding of their responsibilities
89. Is readily available for support to employees
90. Recognizes and deals with signs of employee burnout
91. Consistently meets all deadlines
92. Prepares meeting agendas that are concise and time saving
93. Keeps meetings on schedule
94. Respects the time of others
95. Makes effective use of discretionary time
96. Excels in living the organiational values
97. Promotes strong support of company’s mission and vision
98. Is able to turn visions into actual action plans
99. Demonstrates an ability to transfer vision into execution
100. Excels in contributing to the company’s goals
Again, these phrases mean nothing unless you attach specific examples and data to them. To ensure a performance review is truly effective, remember to evaluate on data rather than assumption.
Definition: using positive impetus and methodolgies to achieve the most desireable results in a given negative or toxic situation.
Getting blindsided by losing a top-performer may stymie you. Your initial reaction may be, “Where is this coming from? I thought everything was going well.” But once you stop and thing about it, was it going as well as you initially thought…
“I’ll never reach these goals-they are so unreasonable?“
“I have no idea how I’m doing-no sense in going out of my way for anything–it’s not like anyone notices.“
The reality is that most employees rarely tell their boss the whole truth about how they feel at work, fearful of repercussions and awkward conversations. Some feel it is easier to quit and start over-they don’t know how to ask for help.
Although these are common thoughts amongst low-morale employees, this is where positive psychology and positive leadership can help turn things around. Before you attack the problem head-on, and jump into fixing the situation, stand back and analyze each component, and ask some questions. This will help you identify what needs to be done. It’s no different than when you decide to take off for places unknown-the first thing you do is Google a map. The same holds true here.
As this is uncharted territory for you, ask yourself:
The first answer is that it was not one event, but rather a culmination of several factors that drove them to that decision. Interestingly enough though, this scenario has a tendency to play out more often within some companies, and rarely at others.
Perhaps the better question to ask yourself would be: What are we NOT doing that those other companies with better retention ARE doing?
Another fact to be considered is that, as managers we make innocent assumptions that leave our teams confused and unfocused. What is obvious and evident to us may be nothing more than dense fog to them. Here is where positive psychology and positive leadership come in! Take the time to explain all the pain points so that everyone is on the same page. Assume nothing – you are best served with providing too much information than not enough.
Being a manager in today’s world, regardless of the industry, is a challenge. Never before has the leadership community had to manage as many as 5 different generations at one time. Since there is no longer a mandatory retirement age, and for the first time in history, managers find themselves leading teams of mixed generations that include “traditionalists”, baby-boomers, Gen X, Y & Z and soon the iGens. Not an easy task!
One of the best resolutions is to make sweeping changes to the culture through positive psychology; additionally, you can either remove the instigators (Path of Least Resistance) or remediate them through positive leadership. The key to connecting with your employees is communication, therefore gaining buy-in to these changes.
Employee engagement takes an entire range of factors into consideration, from adequate tools to do their job, to fair compensation and benefits, to appropriate training. However, at the end of the day, without a solid connection to their manager or faith in their manager’s abilty to engage them, connecting with them is all but impossible. Although free snacks in the breakroom are great, they are not as important as having a manager who appreciates them. They will leave.
Here are some questions managers should ask themselves :
Traditional approaches to leadership often focus on fixing problems, maintaining the status quo or helping people be good rather than EXCEPTIONAL. However, by using positive psychology, you, as a manager can build a leadership framework to enabling thriving performances. Around the world, smart organizations are achieving organizational improvement and business benefits through those leaders who demonstrate the ability to create these positive cultures.
When leaders discover how the latest research in emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and neuroscience is transforming workplaces, many are eager to learn more about these interventions and apply them. Positive leadership is based on positive psychology and is designed to enable the best in people and to inspire them to strive for remarkable results.
Behavioral traits determine an employee’s actions, reactions and inactions. Everbody has has dominant traits as well as other less intense ones. As a Positive Leader, a comprehensive understanding of your team will come by seeing your team members for who they really are – inside and out.
Take the time to learn what makes each of them “tick”, what depletes their energy and what motivates them. By doing so, you will be able to talk to them in a way they will understand you as well as improve team dynamics.
Figuring out how to improve morale, and therefore increase productivity is a best-guess game, once all the components are analyzed.
On Becoming a Positive Leader
Alas, the people you’re stuck working with did not read the other article, not even when you forwarded it to them. (Thanks for that, by the way.) And so now you’re stuck trying to figure out how to motivate people who seem far more interested in scrolling through other people’s online posts than they are in getting anything useful done. Which doesn’t even make sense, since they really don’t even care about whatever it is they’re reading and most of the time don’t even fully read anything, so why do they do it in the first place?!?!
It’s difficult enough to motivate ourselves when we’re disinclined to be working, and it’s doubly hard to do it for others when they aren’t all that interested in meeting you halfway. But here are a few things you can try that will help bring your people to where you need them to be.
We discussed the importance of changing your mental (and sometimes physical) environment in the other article as a way to jumpstart your motivation, and what works for you will work for others as well. But that doesn’t mean that they feel like they have that option. So if you see someone struggling to stay focused, encourage them to step away for a while – or failing that, just drop in and have a quick five or ten minute conversation about work, or whales, or whatever comes to mind. (I hope it’s whales.) Sometimes, all it takes is a little distraction.
There is no shame in this. We do it all the time with our children, and we don’t think we’re terrible parents just because we had to give our kids a dollar to eat their vegetables or go to bed on time. In fact, sometimes we do this because it’s the only thing that works. We parents are practical, not perfect – and there’s no reason for you to expect to be any different when you’re dealing with your teammates or employees. So if you know you’ve assigned a thankless task to someone and you’re watching them struggle to find the will to get it done, don’t hesitate to offer to let them work on it from home or buy them lunch when they get it finished. Will it make them love the crappy assignment you dropped into their lap? Probably not. But sometimes “getting it done on time” is the only thing you can reasonably hope for.
What?! How can you possibly motivate someone by not being there? Well, it is possible – as long as they know the importance of what they’re doing. If people think they’re working on something meaningless, they’ll have a hard time caring enough to do the work. But if you’ve explained the importance of the work they do, then sometimes backing off is a great way to go. Everyone on the planet knows that they should eat well and exercise, but you can’t force someone to do it. But a doctor can absolutely say, “If you don’t change your diet, you’re going to probably die soon, so…you know…maybe eat less butter.” Do all patients listen to their doctors? No – but some do. So while this is definitely not the approach to take with everyone about everything, it can certainly be a way to distinguish which of your people can find the will to be self-starters and which ones can’t. And that’s a helpful thing to know when it comes time to decide who to promote.
I’m going to wrap up now, but in case you think I’m being too frilly and positive for you here, I’d like to also mention that you can often motivate people by threatening them with electric shock. After all, fear is a powerful motivator – but I’m guessing that’s illegal where you work. Silly laws. So try these ideas instead!
Leadership Flagship 