Help your teammates navigate moments of self-doubt

Open questions can help your teammate realize, recognize, and internalize their own skills and impact. You can spend time asking them these questions in a 1:1.

Here are a few:

• In the last year, where have you created more clarity or predictability for people?
• In the last six months, how have you helped your teammates hone new skills or advance their careers?
• In the last three months, what decisions did you facilitate or make? What blockers or missteps did you help the team or company avoid?
• What will the future look like, thanks to the work you’ve done?

If your teammate prefers to process and introspect privately, you can send them these questions to think through on their own. They can block out 20 minutes of focus for reflective time with an exercise like this. Invite them to share any new lightbulb moments with you the next time you meet.

Please don’t worry about leading your teammate down a particular path of realization. Sure, you can hold up that metaphorical mirror for your teammate and tell them what you see. But the simple act of helping them reflect on what they see is incredibly powerful, too.