The 3 things your employees need from you

Many years ago in high school, I had a rough basketball season. Instead of continuing to improve over time, my skills and execution deteriorated. Why? Because I was missing the three things that every team member needs in order to perform at their best.

Do your employees have these three things from you?

• Read the video transcript

  When I was younger, I was a basketball player, and my junior year of high school, I made the varsity team and I was pumped that I made varsity instead of JV but I shouldn't have been because what happened thereafter was that I became an excellent bench warmer and rightfully so.

  I wasn't one of the best players on the team, and so I wasn't getting very much playing time and, and that was okay, right? But I did start to realize I'm not getting as much exercise as I want when I am just sitting on the bench. And so after practice, I started to run extra laps. In our gym there was an upstairs area where you could run laps. So even in the winter when there was snow and ice out, I was able to go run there after practice. And I was just doing it for myself. And I knew, my coach knew that I was doing it. He had seen me go up there to run extra laps and he didn't say anything. And that was fine because I wasn't looking for any sort of praise or approval around it.

  But something happened, one of the starters on the team started to join me and run laps with me, which was great. But then when that started to happen and the coach noticed, he called it out, he called out her going above and beyond -- this exemplary behavior that she's going and running these extra laps after practice and how we should all be giving that much more. And this was hurtful, right? Not again because I wanted the praise, but because already I knew I wasn't really a valued member of the team. And this just cemented that, that knowledge further.

  And here's what happens when I am coaching employee, an employee who isn't feeling very valued by their boss, it's really hard for them to overcome that and start to give more effort and start to perform at higher levels when they already are feeling like they're in kind of this risky state of being. It is really hard to dig out of that and actually deliver what the boss wants.

  And so if you are a leader, I want you to think about three things that your employees need to really have the environment that's needed for them to perform their best work. These three things are, do your employees, does every single employee feel known, seen and valued? Known? Do you know them as a whole person? Do you know a little bit about them? Do you care about them both inside and outside of work? Not saying you have to dig into tons of personal details, but do they truly feel known and cared for by you? The second one was seen, which also includes heard, right? Do you really see what they're doing and acknowledge it? Do you hear? Do you listen to their voice and their opinion? Are you seeking that from them? Do they truly feel seen and heard within that? And then the last one is valued. Do they believe that you actually value them and their contributions? And even if 90% of what they're doing right now is not meeting your expectations, how do you still call out the 10% that is meeting your expectations? The 10% where you can see the value they're bringing. Doesn't mean we ignore the 90% that needs feedback and correction and coaching, but are we still finding ways to communicate value?

  Known, seen, and valued. And guess what? If you are not a leader, you don't have direct reports, you can also provide this to all of your colleagues and your boss. The humans around you need to feel known, seen, and valued. And so I want you to do a quick evaluation and think through how would you rate those three aspects for the people that you work with on a daily basis?