My favorite business book I read this year is Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown.  Greg describes the dilemma of many successful people.  As success piles up, so do more opportunities and more requests.  The list of opportunities grow bigger.  The temptation is to think you can do it all.  My gosh, look what you have achieved, and just think what more you can achieve if you continue to expand your efforts!  In one simple diagram, Greg captures the difference between the Essentialist’s way of life and the Non-Essentialist's way of life.  

In both cases, the same amount of energy is exerted.  However, on the right, there is much more progress.  On the left, the energy is divided into many different activities.  On the right, the energy is given to a singular purpose.  The result on the right is that by investing in fewer things, you have the satisfying experience of making significant progress in the things that matter most.  The Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many.  

A recent Gallup poll with large companies found that 87% -- yes, that’s 87% -- of people were disengaged in their work.  

Do you find that hard to believe? I promise you that if I took a survey of CEOs, each would say, “Well that may be the national average, but it’s not the case in my company!”  It may not be, but I would challenge any CEO to explore how many people at their organization actually are disengaged.  

With year-end compensation reviews and bonus setting, we focus heavily on financial motivation. Yet top employees rarely stay “just for the money.” Recent studies show that the team they work with and the meaning of their work is even more important.

Laszlo Bock, SVP of Google’s People Operations was quoted recently saying, “People want to do more than just make a buck. People want to do something that means something.”

If a company can set up an annual review to evaluate monetary compensation, why not spend equal time on meaning compensation? Getting this right could make a big impact on engagement and identify how best to bring out the best in each and every employee.

December is often the month when CEOs and managers do annual reviews.  These exchanges can be highly energizing, but often they are completely the opposite. And executives often overlook that how you say it is just as important as what you say.

Top 3 Mistakes Most Executives Make with Reviews:

1. You gloss over tough issues that need to be addressed and disguise this lack of         candor as an effort to be kind.
2. You are overly direct and curt, demotivating the person and leaving the individual unsure of whether they really belong or fit in the company.
3. You make the review too complicated.  You have 20 boxes to check and people walk away with a lot of input but no focus on what is most important for success and growth opportunities in the upcoming year.  

While I don’t expect you to radically change the way you deliver reviews, I do challenge you try something a little different this year.  Shift your approach to be less an authoritative boss telling your direct reports what to do and more of a guide, coaching them through the process.