When we work with leadership coaching clients or volunteer leaders like you, the Career and Professional Development coaches recognize the importance of building teams with clear communication, trust, and engagement. A tried-and-true resource we come back to again and again is the “best of me” conversation. The conversation, consisting of four sharing prompts, can be conducted with two people or an entire team —either way this interactive conversation enhances relationships, deepens understanding of one another, and can increase engagement by recognizing and playing toward the strengths of the team members.
Use the following four sentence prompts to broaden and deepen relationships with those who you work most closely with and to establish boundaries and expectations around the work you do. We guarantee light bulbs will be going on.
Before you get started with the prompts, here are some coaching tips to set the conversation up for success:
- Send these prompts ahead of time so that those who need additional reflection time can be thorough
- Encourage those answering to be as specific/customize their answers as much as possible, including you.
- As the conversation facilitator, plan to participate, and be mindful to not dominate the conversation—listening is more valuable than sharing.
“You get the best of me…” – Allow those you work with to verbalize how they can show up and be all in and engaged in their work. Through this prompt, you’ll hear about their strengths, activities they enjoy best, and how they want to support and contribute to the team.
“You get the worst of me…” – Setting people up for success is your goal. Through this prompt, get a better understanding of how you might remove challenges, reframe tough situations, or pivot a teammate into a role where they can thrive. Disengagement comes from a team member’s inability to play to their strengths.
“You can count on me to…” – How do your team members want to show up? This is their opportunity to set clear self-expectations and your opportunity to show accountability on what they say they will do.
“This is what I need from you…” – Relationship building is about give and take. We are not mind readers! Inviting your team to ask for what they need from one another builds trust and transparency. Additionally, as you answer this prompt, be specific about your expectations for each individual and for the team as a whole.
Across many industries and institutions, these prompts have helped leaders navigate and transform closed off, guarded relationships into those that bring clarity and value to various perspectives, healthy accountability, and awareness of how others can work better together. From your professional life to your volunteer responsibilities, we hope you find value and implement these prompts, too.