The Power of Setting Intention

Does intention really matter? Some argue that intentions don’t matter at all. What matters is direction. What matters is behavior. What matters is results.

What may not be visible on the surface is that intention drives direction, behavior and results. Setting a clear intention creates alignment and accountability.

The problem is what we don’t understand about intention.

• Intention is an invisible force influenced by emotion.
• Intention can be conscious or unconscious.
• Conscious intentions compete with unconscious intentions.

One of my favorite authors, Gary Zukav says, “If you aren’t aware of your intention before an interaction, you’ll become aware of it afterwards.”

The way I interpret Zukav’s insight is this: Our unconscious intentions are often in conflict with our conscious intentions. For example, your intention to be liked, (unconscious) may compete with your conscious intention to help the employee grow. If you avoid the conversation, your unconscious intention wins out.

Here's how we give in to unconscious intentions. Suppose you need to have a difficult conversation with an employee that you view as entitled and aloof. If you're holding a grudge or seething in resentent, you might have a hidden intention to teach the employee a lesson, or put them in their place. You'll fool yourself if you don't address the emotion driving the unconscious intention.

You won’t be able to recognize this unconscious intention until after the fact. You reflect on the conversation and realize you were a bit harsh. While you felt justified in the moment, you wish you had a chance for a do-over.

The strongest intention always wins, whether you’re aware of the intentions or not. ?Emotions are a powerful force that drives our unconscious intentions.

How to improve intention setting

The way to improve your awareness and intention setting is to articulate the intention before critical decisions or critical conversations. ?For example when you start a business meeting you're more likely to stay on track if you can consciously state your intention.

Example: The intention for this meeting is to give you a briefing about research, and secondly to get the next right step to see if it makes sense for me to write a proposal.

Most of us don’t actually state an intention before an interaction. If we did, we’d become so much more aware of the competing ego-based intentions. Saying your intention out loud, keeps your integrity in check. You'll know immediately if you get off track.

Examples of good intention setting

• My intention for this conversation is to talk about increasing sales goals.
• My intention for this conversation is to talk about improving teamwork.
• My intention is to talk about how we can compete in a hybrid workplace.

All of these intentions are focused, positive and forward moving.

Examples of poor intention setting

• My intention is to find out why you aren’t hitting your quotas.
• My intention is to talk about why you aren’t a good team player.
• My intention for this conversation is to talk about all the problems of working hybrid.

All of these intentions focus on the problem or on the past.

How intention shapes your questions

The underlying intention separates a bad question from a good question, even when the situation is the same.

Situation: you disagree with a decision that’s already been made.        

Bad question: Why in the world did you make that decision?

Intention: To shame the other person.

Good question: Can you walk me through your thought process as you made that decision?

Intention: To learn the other person’s thought process.

Situation:? A colleague berated an employee in front of the team.        

Bad question: Did you know that what you said hurt Kim’s feelings?

Intention: To gossip, reprimand or change behavior

Good question: Have you thought about a more effective way to communicate with Kim?

Intention: To make the other person reflect, to open dialogue for course-correction

?As you can see in both examples, the situation remains the same, however the quality of the question and quality of the conversation is shaped by the underlying intention, and our unconscious intentions are often driven by emotions we are not comfortable admitting to.

Conclusion

Setting intention is a critical skill for no-drama leaders who want to drive results and reduce costly mistakes. That's why it's one of the first skills I'm teaching in my new course coming out soon. To sign up for the waitlist, click here.

Intention drives direction. Intention drives behavior. Intention drives results.

Marlene Chism is a consultant, speaker, and the author of?? From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading (Berrett-Koehler 2022). She is a recognized expert on the LinkedIn Global Learning platform. Connect with Chism via?LinkedIn ,?or at MarleneChism.com