The Challenge to Excel continues to be one of the best employee development tools available. “Challenge to Excel” is a project or task given to employees that is beyond their current knowledge or skills level in order to “stretch” employees developmentally. The stretch assignment challenges employees by placing them into uncomfortable situations in order for them to learn and grow.
When done correctly these assignments serve a dual purpose of providing learning opportunities for your people, while at the same time completing a project or task that will help the organization. Many people have reported that participating in a Challenge to Excel has helped them to feel more valued as an employee. When employees feel valued, they tend to work harder and become more engaged with your organization. Using the Challenge to Excel process as a strategy to accomplish an important task or project will help you meet that goal and give someone the opportunity to play a lead role in its completion. Rarely will an employee complain about being given an assignment that challenges them and allows them to have some additional visibility in the company.
The way to best make the Challenge to Excel process work is to believe in the person you are assigning the challenge to. Think about someone who has believed in you. Maybe that someone is a teacher, or your boss, possibly a friend; what was the direct result of this? Having someone believe in you gives you the greatest belief in yourself and in your own individual abilities. If someone truly believes that you are destined to do great things, the feeling is contagious and gives you that sense of confidence that can motivate you in ways that you never thought possible. It only takes one person to make a difference, and that person can contribute the biggest difference in your life. As leaders we need to always be authentic and genuine, any hint of making this a technique – and being disingenuous will have disastrous short and long-term consequences. Believing in them is the best (and only) place to start. Believing is great, but do you care enough to let them know? Is their success and significant improvement important enough to you? Let your caring show – through your words yes, but through your actions and your calendar even more.
Another way to believe in them is to give them a picture of their future you see for them. When you show your belief in people by letting them see what we see in their future, we can captivate and inspire people. This act can be among the most meaningful and powerful things we can do for someone else. Doing this well is not only one of the most important things we can do as a leader, it is also one of the most personally gratifying too.
During his career with the San Francisco 49ers and as a coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, Bill Walsh developed a uniquely thoughtful style of play and a successful system of team management that has become one of the most respected in the modern game. Walsh, like other coaching legends, did far more than produce consistently winning teams—in his case, three Super Bowl championships for the 49ers.
Less of a psychologist than Rockne, and never a disciplinarian like Lombardi, Walsh produced winners through a businesslike approach to maximizing the potential of players and coaches. His ability to coolly analyze opponents, matching their weaknesses with his teams’ strengths, made come-from-behind wins a Walsh football hallmark.
Bill Walsh modernized sports coaching. He said, “Management today recognizes that to have a winning organization, it has to be more knowledgeable and competent in dealing with and developing people. That is the most fundamental change. The real task in sports is to bring together groups of people to accomplish something.”
Bill Walsh consistently used the four most powerful words that develop people: “I believe in you.” Walsh said that even Joe Montana (who was already very confident) benefited from these words. Walsh has also stated, “And nobody will ever come back to you later and say, ‘thank you’ for expecting too little of them.”
Challenging someone to excel is a deliberate practice, which requires pushing a person beyond their comfort zone, as opposed to just going through the motions. Real coaching comes from managers who can challenge others and drive them to higher levels of performance through the application of technical knowledge.
When you are challenging others to excel, you must set high standards and stick to them. Not unrealistic standards, of course, but high ones. Although it can be challenging to keep the bar high at all times, here’s a quick checklist to think about when deciding which standards you want to deploy.
1. Set high standards for performance in every aspect of the business.
2. Involve everyone in the commitment to safety. How can we perform better, and still stay safe?
3. Constantly evaluate the quality of work produced.
4. No matter how well things are going, realize that improvements are always possible.
5. Solicit suggestions from your direct reports, manager, and peers.
6. Invite your direct reports to challenge established boundaries. Help them identify “stretch” objectives to achieve organizational goals.
7. Work to discover and then exceed your manager’s expectations.
8. Identify your most deeply held convictions. Use those convictions to guide your leadership.
9. Report on both your successes and failures with equal candor.
10. Follow issues through to completion.
