Progress & Potential: Powerful 9

Dear Happiness & Leadership Community,

First, apologies my letter was truncated last week due to technical issues. I include in full below: Gallup's 8 questions + mine = 9...

By taking steps of progress each week, you will fulfill your long term potential.

By illustration, I apply the questions to my company, Savvy Growth. And also to my piano playing:

I am figuring out how ChatGPT can be helpful. I asked its advice on what I should study next, based only on the 3 pieces in my recent performance.

My sister's reaction to Chat GPT: "Pretty good."

I hope my answering the 9 questions encourages you to also.

Gallup’s largest global study of the future of work reveals what every employee wants most: a great job and a great life. I share the 8 “Progress and Potential” questions from Gallup your direct reports will thank you for asking.

What is the future of work?

Last week, I shared how one of our clients holds regular "Progress and Potential" conversations. Their CEO loved the book, It's the Manager, by Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton and their Chief Scientist, Jim Harter so much, that she supplied copies for all 300 of her managers.

The core finding from Gallup’s largest global study of the future of work is that the new workforce wants their work to have deep mission and purpose. They don’t want old-style command and control bosses.

Clifton and Harter discuss how great managers maximize the potential of every team member to drive a company’s growth.? They give every employee what they want most:? a great job and a great life.? That is the future of work.

Gallup revealed that the No. 1 reason people are changing jobs is for better career growth opportunities. And the desire for career growth is only growing.

What are the 9 Questions you will be thanked for asking?

Accordingly, our client, the CEO encourages all 300 of her managers to ask, at regular intervals,? in their 1-on-1s with direct reports, the eight questions listed in Chapter 25: “Make ‘My Development’ the Reason Employees Stay:

1. What are your recent successes?
2. What are you most proud of?
3. What rewards and recognition matter most to you?
4. How does your role make a difference?
5. How would you like to make a bigger difference?
6. How are you using your strengths in your current role?
7. How would you like to use your strengths in the future?
8. What knowledge and skills do you need to get to the next stage of your career?

Setting aside regular time with your people for them to share answers to these questions, creates the foundation for career growth plans to take shape.

And add to these 8, my #9 which if you take action on every week, will actualize your career aspirations:

Question #9: What 1 to 3 things will you do this week to make progress toward your career goals?

How can you shift your job into a calling?

Last week, I delivered a HappinessWorks? workshop for a client.? We discussed the importance of creating meaningful work for themselves as well as the employees they lead.? This meaningful work is work where they can earn their success, have a sense of accomplishment, and where their skills meet their passions. Where their job makes life better in a meaningful way through their service to others.

I presented the concept of job crafting and the importance of mindset. I shared the example of the member of a hospital’s cleaning staff who considered her role not as a janitor, but as an important part of the patient’s care team. She would change the position of the artwork in the rooms of patients who were critically ill to offer them fresh perspectives each day. I was excited when one of the participants said during the debrief that he would focus in the coming month on job recrafting after hearing of this example.

Case Study: Applying the 9 Questions to Me! To illustrate, I thought it would be helpful to answer these questions as I discuss with Teddy, my piano teacher, my next goals for my piano playing (see my answers in intro above).

And of course, I constantly think about how to grow in my work as a consultant, coach, and workshop teacher, so I apply the 9 questions to my business too:

1. What are your recent successes? Designing and delivering a retreat to work on collaboration and camaraderie for over 100 faculty and staff of a business school including a HappinessWorks? session that was very well received.
2. What are you most proud of? I am proud when clients embrace the process in our coaching & consulting engagements, going well beyond the goals we initially set. Example: One coaching client was recently promoted to become COO during our engagement.? This was well ahead of his expected timing. I coached him through opening up a window of opportunity with the CEO and he successfully had a timely conversation that resulted in his being named the interim COO and then promoted into the role on a permanent basis a few months later.
3. What rewards and recognition matter most to you? When we can help our clients grow and thrive. The opportunity to inspire the readers of my weekly Happiness & Leadership column to step outside their comfort zones and take action to improve their lives.
4. How does your role make a difference? Increase personal wellbeing for employees, resulting in stronger corporate performance, and creating a better place for their teams and their families.
5. How would you like to make a bigger difference? I would like to reduce the negative consequences of our youth mental health crisis. I would like to bring my HappinessWorks? programming to 100 campuses.
6. How are you using your strengths in your current role? I am using my passion for positive psychology in coaching leaders. I am teaching concepts and delivering practical applications to workshop participants, so they can see how the science of positive psychology works, and takes ongoing work.
7. How would you like to use your strengths in the future? I would like to continue coaching leaders and delivering human performance workshops and measure the positive impact over time for 100 companies.
8. What knowledge and skills do you need to get to the next stage of your career? I am excited about completing my certificate program in happiness studies with Tal Ben-Shahar, creator of Harvard’s recording breaking Positive Psychology course and receiving my diploma later this month in Cartagena.I look forward to continuing my studies with Arthur Brooks, who teaches Leadership & Happiness at Harvard Business School.

Answer to my Question #9: What 1 to 3 things will you do this week to make progress toward your career goals?

1. As a guest speaker to undergraduates at MIT this week, feedback:"I really enjoyed listening to you speak about your findings on happiness as well as practicing gratitude in our lives.""I really liked how you used the term "happiness hygiene" because it portrayed happiness as a lifestyle, something you have to continuously work on building habits for in order to bring consistent joy into your life."
2. Learning/Contributing alongside my Happiness Teachers:Signed up for more coursework with Arthur Brooks.Agreed to speak at my teacher Tal Ben-Shahar's upcoming Happiness Studies Academy in Cartagena, Colombia.
3. Coaching Leaders & HappinessWorks? to campuses and corporations. Served as thinking partner for client and helped him step outside his comfort zone to have a difficult conversation with his CEO during a morning coaching session. By the end of the day, he texted the results - he was given what he deserved/earned including a promotion to C-suite. He said of the conversation, "I wouldn't have done it without you."Asked by University President for proposal to deliver HappinessWorks??to their campus. Also submitted proposal to deliver HappinessWorks? to C-suite leaders for a women's forum in New York City next year.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to answer these same 8 questions + my Question #9. Then ask each of your team to also.

I'm interested in hearing your progress!

About Grace Ueng

Grace is a strategy consultant,? leadership coach and human performance expert with Savvy Growth.

Her company offers workshops to move teams forward: Savvy's Seven: What You Will Learn. Transformative companies hire Grace to deliver her HappinessWorks? program to boost performance.

Join her Happiness & Leadership community and learn to be a happier and better leader: click here