Never say “Just do your best”
Many individuals in leadership roles use a “Do your best” approach. They assign team members a goal or task and simply ask them to “do their best.” Sometimes this is not even stated; it is only implied.
This is not an effective way of optimizing team performance and results. The reality is that people do their best when they are given challenging goals beyond their present performance.
Furthermore, performance gets even better when people are provided specific feedback regarding how they are doing in comparison to their own prior performance and the performance of others.
Most people strive to improve and do better. In fact, most people would like to be real “Achievers.” They would like to be recognized as a top performer, whether or not they openly admit it. It is human nature for people to compare themselves to each other and be competitive.
Team success comes from setting challenging goals and providing regular specific feedback on performance – comparing their results to their own prior performance and to the performance of others.
