I’ll bet you never thought that setting POSITVE intentions or defining POSITIVE values for your company or team could throw your employees or team members off track. Well, the research proves that this can definitely happen – if your team views your behavior as being inconsistent with those key intentions/values, or if your actions make you appear to be hypocritical.

Maybe it’s not “rocket science” per se; but I’ll admit to having a little “A-HA! Moment” as I read about the research conducted by Sandra Cha (McGill University) and Amy Edmonson (HBS). This research was recently discussed in an HBS Working Knowledge article: Corporate Values and Employee Cynicism with a Q&A with the authors.

Perhaps the article grabbed my attention given that I recently facilitated the Bring Your Future into Laser Focus! Team Visioning teleseminar designed to help teams set their key intentions and SMART goals for the year. And, now I’m hoping these leaders (or YOU) won’t get in their own way!

One of the disconnects raised by Cha and Edmonson occurs when there is tension between stated intentions (or values) and the interpretation of those intentions (or values) by team members. For example: perhaps everyone on your team has reached agreement on the what [“We intend to provide a high level of customer service to all of our clients/customers regardless of the level at which they use our services/products.”].

Yet, maybe the team has yet to agree on the how – what it will mean to execute on and fulfill that intention. Setting and agreeing to key intentions is only a FIRST step; there also has to be dialogue between leaders and their teams, and decisions made on how key intentions will be fulfilled.

Another pitfall from the research to look out for is when goals (or values) seem to conflict with one another. Here, team leaders may need to give members some flexibility in how certain tasks are accomplished; or perhaps re-visit the “R” from SMART or the realistic nature of the task.

In the Team Visioning teleseminar, we talked about the importance for leaders to be transparent with members about goals that may be considered stretch goals – targets that are outside the normal realm of how things are done. It’s great to help and encourage people to exceed targets. We also want to level-set expectations so everyone is on the same page about what’s being expected of them. No one likes to be set up to fail.

As a leader, one of your key intentions for 2010 might be to create the right environment for your members to succeed – and exceed their goals. My key intention is to share compelling ideas and strategies to help you and your team to achieve sustainable results in 2010 and beyond. I’d love if you would share your 2010 key intentions with me – either comment here or tweet me @Coach_Colette.

Colette Ellis, Principal
InStep Consulting LLC