Managers can help employees see how their work is contributing. Most important, they can avoid actions that negate its value.   

– Teresa Amabile & Steven Kramer   

Photo by JuliaEastsSweaters

In Part 1, I highlighted the significance of “making progress” in our everyday work if we want to enjoy or encouraged productivity.  At the end of the day, we are wired to be emotionally supported and motivated from progress – even a small win. Yes, higher performance is the reward.

Of the many ways to encourage productivity, engagement, and innovation is the “progress principle” according to of Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer in their forthcoming book: The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work from Harvard Business Review Press.

 How would you like to see your performance improve? Or that of your team? Then, be sure to make progress in your work…even in a small way, and your reward is emotional and motivational support, improved performance.

Ah, the power of progress!

How to get in the way of things getting done

It comes as no surprise that since we can improve performance by just making progress at work, performance can be hindered.

According to Amabile and Kramer there are four primary ways* managers can drain work of its meaning and thus defeat the work objective.

While stated in terms of manager/employee you may want to consider the implications for self-management, too. To hinder performance be sure to: 

1. Dismiss the importance of other’s work or ideas
2. Destroy their sense of ownership of the work
3. Send the message: the work will never see the light of day
4. Neglect to communicate unexpected changes in customer priorities

Here’s another way to look at these four ideas…a reality check of sorts: 

1. Do people believe their contribution matters? How do you know?
2. Do you re-assign responsibilities without discussion or take back “delegated” work?   
3. Do you request input, but neglect to consider it when making the decision?
4. Do people understand why changes were made?

Where’s the power?

There is power tied to making progress in meaningful work; even a little progress energizes. Achievement supports improved performance.

 Whether you are a manager, business owner, or you apply this to leading your own life, remember …

• Daily progress is powerful and even a small win helps sustain performance
• Support daily progress by providing resources and removing obstacles
• Guard against unintentionally hindering work of it’s meaning

How are you supporting progress in your work?  

Please share your comments below.

*Sources: May 2011 Harvard Business Review, The Power of Small Wins, Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, page 77) 

http://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins/sb1

Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.   

– Teresa Amabile & Steven Kramer

Last week my routine was interrupted with re-scheduled coaching appointments and some other things. I had also been out of town and was a bit weary. While I hate to admit it, the “interruption” of my rhythm affected my focus and productivity.

After sluggishly working through the morning I left for an early afternoon appointment with a colleague, Teri Aulph. Following our meeting, I reviewed a client testimonial video. Before the day was done, I connected with a key contact and after several missed calls we have a breakfast meeting penciled in.

How to keep things moving forward

In business and in life one of our challenges is to keep things moving in the right direction. Right?

Consider these five ways to encourage productivity, engagement, and innovation; how would you rank them?

1. Incentives
2. Clear Goals
3. Support for making progress
4. Recognition for good work
5. Interpersonal support

If you selected support for making progress in one’s work you are in agreement with the findings of Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer in their forthcoming book: The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work from Harvard Business Review Press. They call it the “progress principle”.

Through exhaustive analysis of diaries kept by knowledge workers, we discovered the progress principle: Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress—even a small win—can make all the difference in how they feel and perform. (Emphasis added.)

How would you like to see your performance or that of your team improve? See to it you make progress, even in a small way, and enjoy emotional and motivational support. The power of progress!

What type of day will it be?

As a manager here’s a great question to consider: How am I helping my people have a good day?

What’s a good day?  At the end of the day, people feel good and are motivated because they can see progress. Yes, even if only small steps have been achieved in their work it matters.

What’s a bad day? Employees feel stuck due to a lack of resources or support; at the end of the day they cannot see progress.

There is power in achievement and that’s improved performance. Whether you are a manager, business owner, or you apply this to leading your own life, remember …

Daily progress is powerful and even a small win helps sustain performance

Support daily progress by providing resources and removing obstacles

On that Monday, you would be right to observe I had not experienced a huge victory… but I did see progress.  And progress – even those small wins - had a positive effect.

Where are you seeing progress?

Please share your comments below.

 Whether something brings them joy or pain, when people share and engage in communities, they form bonds and relationships with others who acknowledge their situation.  – Liana Evans, from post on Search Engine Watch  

Last week I shared the story behind co-hosting the #leadfromwithin Tweet Chat with Lolly Daskal and the role of social media.

The theme of our #leadfromwithin Tweet Chat is Your Story: Listen. Learn. Lead.  If you have not participated in this social media platform I encourage you to explore.

Recent co-hosts of #leadfromwithin include Jesse Lyn Stoner, co-author with Ken Blanchard the book Full Steam Ahead her topic was Connecting through Community.

The following week after me Bret L. Simmons - faculty of the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno – co-hosted the Tweet Chat on Dare to Trust.

How does the #leadfromwithin chat room work? Ten questions are tweeted during the hour; the community tweets and interacts. Lolly provides a full transcript (go here for Your Story: Listen. Learn. Lead.) for review. 

Here are some of the Tweets others shared on my topic …

 Q1: What is the power of “story”?

@scedmonds: Story is the weaving of our past with our potential future.

@emeliasam: Stories are formats that are universally understood…that is power.

@KamKansas: You can’t hate someone once you know their story.

@drbret: Stories are intimate, personal. Good stories connect on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual level.

@Steve_Sass: Story provides examples of past experience to inspire future success.

@EdwardColozzi: Story is the way we humans strive to express, teach, learn, honor, and remember each other.

@juanortiztweets: Stories allow us to examine what we do with what has been done, and learn from the good and bad on both sides.

@CareerSpan: The narrator is the main character experiencing every emotion and thought.

@KateNasser: The power of story – it ignites more thoughts than the information delivered.

@gracinginginity: If you listen you may discover someone else’s nugget of gold.

@JesseLynStoner: Stories are how the ancient bards transmitted our culture.

@grit08: It lives and breathes your truth.

@LollyDaskal: Wherever I go, I find that my story has been there before me.

@StrategicMonk: Story is narrative; it is how we understand how our experiences fit together and shape who we have become up to now.

@OlliesLounge: Stories engage you, show you a new world.

@ThinDifference: Story is what people will say about you after the dust settles.

@John_Paul: Story has the power to capture our imagination and take us on adventures into new domains.

@LynnFishman: Stories speak to the dreamer in all of us.

@scedmonds: Stories connect the HEART with the HEAD and can inspire marvelous success.

@Josepf: Stories can also be FALSE, and when we tell them others can listen and help guide/point-out to then allow for renewal.

@Natasha_D_G: Story is powerful as it connects the dots transforming specks into a valuable picture.

@KateNasser: Stories used in teaching allow students to discover the truth vs. hear the truth.

@TerriKlass: Stories help us to define ourselves and understand where we need to go.

@emmakuhlpitts: People love hearing stories because it makes it personal.

@Versalytics: Stories provide a means to connect and paint pictures.

@JFeskorn: Our Story: where we’ve been, who we are becoming, and who we want to be.

@KamKansas: We are hard-wired for stories. We don’t put our kids to bed with PowerPoints of the Three Little Pigs.

@Cybuhr: A book must be open for the story to be read. We must be open to share our story.

@LollyDaskal: Tell your story, change the world.

@growinggold: Just off the phone w/my mother…today’s been an emotional day…hoping #leadfromwithin lifts my spirits; reminds me why I am here!

@soniafarace: Stories give us inspiration to move forward and believe that he impossible IS POSSIBLE

@scedmonds: The most inspired speakers connect us with ideas through stories. They make sense and provide meaning. 

To read the tweets for the other nine questions go here for the transcript.

Q2: What happens when we pay attention to our story?

Q3: What are the benefits of embracing our story?

Q4: Why do we resist our story?

Q5: How does listening to our story accelerate personal growth?

Q6: How does story guide our future?

Q7: How do we use story telling in leadership?

Q8: How do we engage story to develop leaders?

Q9: What happens when you know someone’s story?

Q10: What have you learned from your own story?

How would you answer these questions? Which answers resonate with you? 

When will you slip in the Tweet Chat room? 

I hope you enjoy this story behind a Tweet Chat – Your Story: Listen. Learn. Lead. For more background you can read my post here.

Part of this story, for me, is the potential of social media.

• A connection is made through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Then deepened…cultivated using the phone or in person

Lolly, please accept my gratitude for our new connection. Yes, for the privilege of being a part of your #leadfromwithin community of reflective, caring people.  

Come by any Tuesday, 8:00 pm Eastern; www.tweetchat.com enter #leadfromwithin or visit Lolly Daskal.   

Guess what? You may find a party…a fun place where you give more than you get. But what you get in return are lasting friendships. 

So go ahead and join the party (social media). But think of it as just that – a fun place where you give more than you get. But what you get in return are lasting friendships, many which lead to business opportunities.  – David Meerman Scott

What if?

Please share your comments below.

So go ahead and join the party (social media). But think of it as just that – a fun place where you give more than you get. But what you get in return are lasting friendships, many which lead to business opportunities.  – David Meerman Scott 

Social Media creates opportunities to connect with others like never before. David Meerman Scott likes to think of the Web as a city. For him social media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are the “cocktail parties”.

That’s how Lolly Daskal and I connected March 22; she sent this message through LinkedIn:

Steve,

I was wondering if you would be interested in being a guest on my #leadfromwithin leadership chat.
Let me know.

Thanks
Lolly

The next day we connected by phone and enjoyed a twenty, “New York Minute” call. (Yes, we covered a lot of ground quickly). Our phone call allowed us to connect at a deeper level as we shared our passion for people development and supporting one another to achieve our best.

And with that, Lolly invited me to co-host her significant #leadfromwithin Tweet Chat. I still remember hanging up and wondering “What did I just agree to?”  You see, at that time I was a newbie on Twitter and slow to embrace it.

As Lolly laid out her goal for the one hour Tweet Chat, it captured my heart as an executive coach. Each week she her co-host is to Teach, Inspire, and Empower. When you visit her leadership chat room you’ll see how #leadfromwithin has a heart-centered, inside/out theme associated with personal growth and leadership – the people.

The moment arrived Tuesday, May 17.  My theme – Your Story: Listen. Learn. Lead. 

Here are the 10 questions tweeted during the hour. Yes, there were a lot of great thoughts, but for now, here are mine.

 Q1: What is the power of “story”?

A1: Story allows objectivity and context so we can see what we missed in real time

A1: Story gives us freedom to edit, but not re-write

A1: Story invites us to engage the process of change & personal development          

Q2: What happens when we pay attention to our story? 

A2: We become more receptive to feedback, experience, success & failure found in the Story

A2: We can escape deception, whether self-imposed or coming from others 

Q3: What are the benefits of embracing our story?

 A3: Embracing our story can free us from hiding; now, the past is just part of the story, not who I am

A3: Embracing our story can free us from what holds us back as we seek transformation         

Q4: Why do we resist our story? 

A4: It can be passive resistance since it takes time to reflect; we must create space for consistent reflection

A4: Fear…what might I hear or see or have to “deal with” IF I give careful thought to my story?

A4: To avoid personal responsibility; we’re stuck blaming, complaining, living w/victim mentality or a critical spirit 

Q5: How does listening to our story accelerate personal growth?             

Q5: We must slow down to speed up the process of development

Q5: Growth comes when we connect our ability and willingness to learn and change to our story

Q5: By paying attention…noticing is usually the first step to learning 

Q6: How does story guide our future? 

 A6: When we’re listening, Story will show us how a different response will move us in the right direction

A6: With freedom comes the ability to act without fear; to embrace my story means I CAN write a new chapter, my future 

Q7: How do we use story telling in leadership?

A7: Leaders persuade; facts tell, stories sell

A7: Leaders understand the place of story in leading, guiding, and influencing people

A7: Leaders pay attention to the organization’s story and keep telling it           

Q8: How do we engage story to develop leaders?

 A8: Development reaches outside oneself to help another change, become stronger, or more successful

A8: By example: Listen. Learn. Lead. It really is your story, my story, OUR story

Q9: What happens when you know someone’s story?          

A9: We will begin to SEE the people, not just the problem

A9: We extend grace: everyone has a story

A9: We can begin to appreciate who they are and maybe why they show up ‘that way’

Q10: What have you learned from your own story?

A10: I am responsible, grace is available, and God is faithful; the business of life is people…we need each other.

If you enjoyed this story behind Your Story: Listen. Learn. Lead. you can read my post here.

For me, this story is the story behind social media.

A connection is made.  

The connection is deepened and cultivated by time over the phone and in person. When we listen to and learn from the Story (yes, listen to and learn from others) we will lead better lives. 

Lolly, accept my gratitude for our new connection. Yes, for the privilege of being a part of your #leadfromwithin community of reflective, caring people. 

Now, when will you slip in the back of the room? 

When? Any Tuesday, 8:00 pm Eastern; www.tweetchat.com enter #leadfromwithin or visit Lolly Daskal. 

Guess what? You may find a party “…a fun place where you give more than you get. But what you get in return are lasting friendships.”

What if?

Please share your comments below.