Do you ask your team members if they derive meaning from their work?

I was reading this HBR article “6 Questions to Find Out How Your Employees Are Really Doing” and resonated especially with the following:

• Do you derive meaning from your work? If not, what changes could help?

• What could make this job or organization more compelling for you in the long run?

• What makes you feel depleted or drains you at work and what can I do to support you?

• What are your career goals and dreams? What can I do to help you move towards them?

These are motivational questions. As leaders we want motivated people. To get that, we need to ask those scary questions. No choice. What if they tell you they don’t derive any meaning? They will feel listened to and even if the company can’t provide what they want, they will leave or stay for clearer reasons and happier. the start of the year is a good opportunity to do so. A good level of psychological safety is of course needed to get true answers.

So are you ready to ask those scary questions? Do you want to level up psychological safety within your team in order to show up as a leader who leads courageously?