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My philosophy of leadership is that it's a life of service. I am a firm believer that I work for my employees and not the other way round. In the context of motivation, inspiration, accelerating productivity and developing employees, the success of this depends on how well you know your employees and I mean on an individual level. It may seem very basic, however the simplest things are usually the most powerful yet mostly taken for granted. “Simplicity is a bliss that makes one comprehend.”- Criss Jami

I recently attended a conference where Michael Neil shared some profound thoughts on universal performance indicators (UPI) vs. key performance indicators (KPI). According to Michael, UPIs are based on 3 key things:

• Enthusiasm - How passionate are your employees about their job, company, colleagues, clients, solutions, etc?
• Fresh thinking/Insight - How open are they to new ideas, out-of-the-box thinking, learning, etc?
• Goodwill - How happy or warm are they about their team members, clients, giving back and life in general?

Here, he highlighted that low or high KPIs are as a result of low or high UPIs. This got me thinking about how leaders can tap into these universal performance indicators for accelerated results.

Here are some questions worth knowing the answers to as a leader in order to increase an individual’s UPI thus increasing their output.

• What motivates them? It’s very easy to find ourselves assuming we know what motivates others. This can be so different for every individual. For some, it could be praise, money, progression, stability, extra time off, flexible hours, etc. The best way to know this is simply to ask - What motivates you? What makes you happy? What drives you? What is your life’s goal?
• Where do they see themselves in 5 years? This helps in times when an employee needs a boost e.g. I have a team member who wants to run his own restaurant in 5 years. We did an exercise on what skills & milestones are critical for him to attain, in order to achieve this goal. This type of insight comes in handy to guide and help the individual to stay on course and focused at times when both opportunities and distractions that do not align with his plan are thrown at him.
• What are their individual strengths? This is a key one to help you see how self-aware the employee is, how aligned or misaligned your knowledge is as a leader about the employee, or simply help you find out things you might have missed.
• What percentage of their strength is being maximised in their current role? I find this useful in order to determine if the person is in a role where they can utilize all their strengths. Any strength being utilized below 70% is a concern for me and a coaching opportunity.
• How can they ensure their strength is used at an optimum level in their current role? I am a firm believer in capitalizing on strengths as it requires less effort to achieve greater results. The opportunity to optimize one’s strengths will help in general work happiness, and can also lead to increased productivity.
• What does a great day at work look like for them? This is an interesting one. For me it’s the ability to take my kids to school in the morning then head to work, do what I love doing which is sales coaching & mentoring, be home on time to do homework with my kids, put them to bed, then bring out my laptop and finish up the rest of my work. For you, it will look totally different. Hence key to know what this looks like for everyone in your team and not assume it’s similar to yours.
• What are their past times? Take advantage of times of small talk, "How was your weekend” talks. This information is gold. It helps you to know your team members better, their families, friends, past times, networks, interests, their personal challenges, etc. It’s a time to be present and listen, and not just go through the motions for the sake of being polite. You might get some key information that could go a long way to motivate and show you genuinely care for the person. Here is an example, "Since your mum came out of hospital as you mentioned last week, how is she getting on now? Is there anything I can do on my end to reduce the pressure for you?”

Traditionally leaders can find themselves over-indexing on KPIs. While this is massively important, it’s essential that as leaders we also focus on the route causes - UPIs. Another point worth noting is that UPIs are internal while KPIs are external, so what is demonstrated externally is only a reflection of what’s happening inside.

Our clients, colleagues, leaders, and employees are all humans. Leadership effort is more effective when the person being led, truly believes that you genuinely care about them and their goals. It also depends on your ability to help maximise the UPI for a positive KPI.

*I can also help you as a startup coach, startup advisor, gtm consultant, monetisation, company culture, revenue growth, leadership coach, leadership workshop and more. Contact abi@leadnotlag.com

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