3 Questions to Ask that Propel the Team to New Heights

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Keith Russell, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.

I recently read an article written by a great business coach that examined how business leaders can create a culture that cause employees the think in terms of “My Team” instead of “My Paycheck”. I have always believed that the the key to this is achievement, membership and ownership. By asking the 3 questions below every day, you can create this change in mindset.

It has been my experience that teams begin consistently achieving great things once they are aware of a realistic, attractive and viable vision. The vision must have an element of “when the company wins, I win”. I have been a part of organizations where this was the case and it is very rewarding to be a part of.

I encourage my clients to ask the following questions at the beginning and end of each day and have each employee in the company ask themselves the same:

1. Can/did I find a way to speak to the vision of the organization today?

2. Can/did I say “thank you” to at least one person for doing a great job today?

3. What one thing can/did I do to improve my organization today?

Let’s look at each of the questions in a little more detail…

1. Visioning, if made a part of the culture of the organization can inspire employees to take more risk, work harder and most importantly, achieve more as a synchronized team. We don’t get there without a vision and goals to achieve along the way. This is not an exercise of reciting a vision statement. This is the employee believing in and consciously speaking to it while literally working toward the achievement of the vision. If they accomplish this for their team, they will naturally “claim achievement” in helping the organization move forward.

2. Genuinely saying “thank you” creates organizational habits and will change the mindset to one of appreciation and reciprocation. This reciprocation becomes the “way we do things here” of the “way we talk to each other here”. In time, employees take pride in the “way we do things” and it creates a collaborative climate. Employees are proud to be part of a healthy climate will talk about this with other team members, family, friends and even the competition. This pride will cause them to “claim membership”.

3. If an organization is not improving, it’s merely existing and surviving. Having employees that are focused on doing something each day to improve the organization will allow each employee to “claim” a positive contribution and thereby taking “ownership” in improving processes, culture or other aspects of the organization.

Ask yourself and ask your employees to give this a try. If you are dedicated to asking these three questions every day, it will become part of your working climate and propel you to new heights. Think Big!

Keith Russell is a Business Coach, Speaker and the Founder of Saber Consulting, LLC located in Fort Collins, CO. He can be reached via email at keith@sabreconsultingllc.com