Best-Self Kickoff

The Best-Self Kickoff is a conversation between a team member and their manager about role clarity, preferences, strengths, and more.

Sharing interests you have outside of work can help you connect with others on your team.

• Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, R. D., & Bator, R. J. (1997). The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(4), 363-377.

• Dutton, J., Ceccanese, M., & Ryan, M. What questions work for you in building high quality connections? [Blog Post] Retrieved from: https://www.highqconnections.com/post/what-questions-work-for-you-in-building-high-quality-connections

Identify your unique strengths and find ways to lean on them more in your role.

• Seligman, M. E. P. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

• Niemiec, R. M. (2018). Character strengths interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Boston, MA: Hogrefe Publishing.

• Buckingham, M., & Clifton, D. O., (2001). Now, discover your strengths. New York, NY: Simon & Shuster.

Sharing the type of work that brings you joy can lead to more of those opportunities.

• Cable, D. M., Gino, F., & Staats, B. R. (2013). Breaking them in or eliciting their best? Reframing socialization around newcomers’ authentic self-expression. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58(1), 1-36.

• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68.

• Rothbard, N.P., & Patil, S.V. (2011). Being there: Work engagement and positive organizational scholarship. In G. M. Spreitzer & K. S. Cameron (Eds.), The oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

• Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. I. (2006). Hard facts, dangerous half-truths, and total nonsense: Profiting from evidence-based management. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Sharing how you like to collaborate will set your relationship up for success.

• Böckler, A., Herrmann, L., Trautwein, F. M., Holmes, T., & Singer, T. (2017). Know thy selves: Learning to understand oneself increases the ability to understand others. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 1(2), 197-209.

• Eurich, T. (2017). Insight: Why we're not as self-aware as we think, and how seeing ourselves clearly helps us succeed at work and in life. New York, NY: Crown Business.

• McGonigal, K. (2015). The upside of stress: Why stress is good for you, and how to get good at it. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.

• Stone, D., & Heen, S. (2014). Thanks for the feedback: The science and art of receiving feedback well. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

• Gino, F., & Flynn, F. J. (2011). Give them what they want: The benefits of explicitness in gift exchange. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(5), 915-922.

Share your career vision to get the right support as you aim for your goals.

• Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

• Newport, C. (2012). So good they can't ignore you: Why skills trump passion in the quest for the work you love. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.

• Burnett, B., & Evans, D. (2016). Designing your life: How to build a well-lived, joyful life. New York, NY: Knopf.
  

Feedback

Be proactive and ask for feedback! Why wait around for feedback when it’s more effective to ask? According to Ghorpade (2000), it’s important to request feedback from multiple people for a more complete view.

Leverage the people that challenge you. Research shows we tend to drop our critics when we need them most (Green, Gino, & Staats, 2017). Organizational psychologist Adam Grant recommends identifying people in your “challenge network” who offer different perspectives and will empower you to improve.

Practice Nonviolent Communication: first describe the situation, then name your feeling (“I feel...”), and make your request (“I need...”) (Rosenberg, 2003).

Separate positive and constructive feedback. According to Von Bergen, Bressler, & Campbell (2014), surrounding constructive feedback with positive feedback may feel better for the giver, but is confusing for the receiver.

According to Yaeger et., al (2014), signal trust by communicating high standards and your belief in their ability to fulfill those expectations. For example, “I have very high expectations and I know you can reach them.”

Manager Effectiveness

Thriving managers have thriving teams! Help managers become aware of their greatest strengths and include future focused questions that promote continual growth and development. Research shows strengths-based development conversations increase performance, engagement, and long-term well-being.

• Harzer, C., & Ruch, W. (2014). The role of character strengths for task performance, job dedication, interpersonal facilitation, and organizational support. Human Performance, 27(3), 183-205. 
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. 
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well- 
  being. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Manager effectiveness questions should be used to help managers grow and develop into their best selves, rather than for evaluative purposes. First clarify expectations that hold managers accountable in key areas that drive engagement and performance. Direct reports can then assess if their manager meets these expectations and continually strives to improve. The following research was reviewed to create the manager effectiveness template:

• Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. (2011). The progress principle: Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
  
• Brown, S. P., & Leigh, T. W. (1996). A new look at psychological climate and its relationship to job involvement, effort, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(4), 358-368.
• Böckler, A., Herrmann, L., Trautwein, F. M., Holmes, T., & Singer, T. (2017). Know thy selves: Learning to understand oneself increases the ability to understand others. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 1(2), 197-209.
• Cawley, B. D., Keeping, L. M., & Levy, P. E. (1998). Participation in the performance appraisal process and employee reactions: A meta-analytic review of field investigations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(4), 615-633. 
• Cameron, K. S. (2012). Positive leadership: Strategies for extraordinary performance. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
  
• Cross, R., Ehrlich, K., Dawson, R., & Helferich, J. (2008). Managing collaboration: Improving team effectiveness through a network perspective. California Management Review, 50(4), 74-98.
  
• Dutton, J. E., & Heaphy, E. D. (2003). The power of high-quality connections. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. Quinn. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline. (pp. 263-278). San Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler Publishers.
• Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383.
  
• Owens, B. P., Baker, W. E., Sumpter, D. M., & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Relational energy at work: Implications for job engagement and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(1), 35. 
• McCord, P. (2017). Powerful: Building a culture of freedom and responsibility. United States of America: Silicon Guild.
  
• Pulakos, E. D., Hanson, R. M., Arad, S., & Moye, N. (2015). Performance management can be fixed: An on-the-job experiential learning approach for complex behavior change. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 51-76.
  
• Rodgers, R., & Hunter, J. E. (1991). Impact of management by objectives on organizational productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 322-336.
  
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68. 
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
• Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719-727.
• Rosenberg, M. B. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A language of life. Life-changing tools for healthy relationships. Encinitas, CA: Puddle Dancer Press.
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.