“I got soul but I’m not a soldier. I got soul but I’m not a soldier…”
All These Things that I’ve Done by The Killers
This bridge from the Killers’ song above is, well, killer. If you hear it once, it gets stuck in your head for days.1 A bridge is tricky to get right, because it needs to creatively and memorably link the chorus to the final verse of a song. Great bridges are often the most catchy part of the song.2
Similarly, when it comes to coaching our team members to develop new skills, behaviors or mindsets, reinforcement serves as the bridge from action to learning.
Leadership principle: The third condition for developing a new skill or behavior is clear and consistent reinforcement.
As I wrap up this four-part series on “doubling down” on leadership development in a downturn, I want to emphasize an important point:
Research across industries shows a strong correlation between sustained talent investment and sustained performance over time. In fact a recent McKinsey study highlights that companies that “excel at creating opportunities for their employees to build skills” and hold a high bar on financial outcomes significantly outperform their peers and have the lowest attrition.3
What this means is that companies that invest in developing their people are more resilient performers…and you can bet that resilience is needed when the chips are down during volatile times.
In Part 3 of this series, I explored the types of actions leaders can facilitate to help develop their team members: Applied Skill-Building, Challenging New Responsibilities, Shared Experiences.
This week, I’ll break down the final and often overlooked step of the BAR process (see graphic below)4 - Reinforce.
Reinforcement is the oil that lubricates the learning process, especially when team members have taken on a challenging new responsibility.
There are three components to the “reinforce” step: a) Accountability, b) Feedback and c) Reflection. The table below gives more detail on the “team member” role and “leader role” for each component.
The paradox of the “leader role” in the table above is that it requires a significant amount of attention, yet very little time. The leaders that are best at this create routines that allow them to play this role for their teams, which basically makes this behavior automatic.
For example, one CEO schedules quarterly “career development” chats with each of her direct reports and a few high potential skip levels. In these discussions, she incorporates all three elements of “reinforce” by using a consistent, yet structured agenda: a) follow-ups from last time; b) latest learnings; c) feedback for you/feedback for me. Though the agenda is simple, the dialogue is always rich and it ensures that these check-ins stay focused on development, even when there are urgent business challenges.
The good news is that our team members can develop new skills even if we aren’t as disciplined as this CEO, especially if we are giving them the right opportunities. That said, creating space for accountability, feedback and reflection accelerates learning, in the same way a coach ensures that learning sticks by watching game film.
Take Action: Practical and Proven Steps
Create an “operating rhythm” for team development. Put in place monthly or quarterly check-ins on development progress, using a structured agenda so that it stays focused on development and doesn’t get derailed by other urgent tasks.
Keep the bar high. If team members are struggling in a new challenging responsibility, don’t avoid giving feedback. Instead, lean into feedback and reflection to help them get unstuck and make progress. To de-personalize the feedback and make it as specific as possible, lean on the SBI model - situation, behavior and impact. Remember that you gave them this challenging new responsibility as a means to learn, which implies that there will be mistakes along the way that they can learn from.
Use appreciative inquiry to reinforce what team members have done well. Carol Kaufman emphasizes that it is actually cognitively more difficult to point out what’s right than what’s wrong. Her antidote to this challenge is her Coach by Numbers model.5 Try using this tactic with your teams to help them accentuate where they are doing well and build further momentum in a particular development area.
Reflect: Some Questions to Consider
How can I create “Reinforce” routine with my team?
How can I ensure that I don’t de-prioritize time for reflection and feedback for my team in the midst of the intensity and/or volatility?
What could get in the way of my applying the BAR cycle to the development of each of my team members?
If this week’s Friday Reflection was practical or enjoyable (or maybe even both!), please share it with your colleagues and friends.
Seriously…try it…I dare you. Here’s the link. I’m more of a salsa, R&B and hip hop head but the Killers know what’s up.
For the music heads, this list of top bridges from songs in the 21st century was pretty good. I was thrilled to see that my favorite bridge was #2 on this list.
As much as I love my friends, colleagues and even family that have worked or still work at McKinsey, it pains me to cite them in my newsletter (hahaha - this is of course a joke…kind of). McKinsey Global Institute, in particular, does outstanding research, but my loyalty to Bain, even as an alum, still has a strong pull on me.
While this framework is my own, it is heavily influenced by David Peterson’s development pipeline.
This is a “bread and butter” tool for coaching. It’s like butta baby!