Some team members have yet to reach their full potential.
Others have yet to embrace the standards of excellence held by the team. Some team members are just plain lazy.
These team members need a push, something that will shake them up, capture their attention, and propel them forward.
They require a simple question that carries a powerful punch: “Is this your best work?”
When offered as a prompt to begin a discussion about quality, the question, “Is this your best work?” can open the door to a rich conversation.
In the hands of a skillful leader, it is not a critique. It is a request for self-reflection.
Leaders who ask if this is your best work spark a sense of ownership, self-pride, and introspection.
Team members naturally reveal the lens through which they view quality. They are forced to lay bare the standards they use to judge excellence.
Once their views are out in the open, leaders can shape the way they see the quality of their work.
Imagine a team member who claims the output they produced is, in fact, their best work. This creates an opening for leaders to explore the gap between how the team member defines quality versus how the leader does, and why.
Explaining exactly why the leader holds a higher standard opens a coaching conversation rich with insight.
Or consider the episode in which a team member reluctantly admits the output is not their best work. The leader now gets to explore what got in the way, specifically how the team member can do better and what the leader can do to help in the process.
The natural follow-up questions are “Where do you think this can be stronger? What would you improve with more time or another pass?“
Both coaching conversations guide and teach. They create a pause to discuss how to raise standards without the leader becoming belittling or micromanaging.
This coaching conversation is almost always superior to simply telling the team member their work doesn’t cut it and to try again.
Leaders in the habit of asking this question encourage everyone on the team to make a self-assessment and to take more ownership before handing work over.
Team members who learn that a leader expects their best work and will pose tough questions when they fail to deliver it typically raise their expectations and work to meet the challenge.
Pride alone will move them to meet higher standards.
How often do you ask underperformers whether what they have delivered is their best work and effort?
Good leaders create a coaching conversation with that simple question. The results can sometimes be amazing.
