Pleased but not Satisfied

Last month, I was talking to the leader of a well-known organization about his approach to achieving excellence. We shared some of our own personal best practices and learnings over the years. He shared one that really resonated with me: the idea is to be pleased but not satisfied.

This involves pushing the team hard and having a strong opinion on how things should operate. The idea is that there’s a balance between encouraging the team and individuals to do their best while also finding opportunities for them to do even better. Sometimes it’s easy to take what you get and move on, and sometimes, you know that more is possible.

Late in the Pardot years, we were making a push for customer referrals. Our sales team would ask for referrals after a new customer had a successful launch. Customer success would occasionally ask for a referral after an excellent check-in call. It was okay but not great. I pushed the team. Surely, there were other options. Then, after pushing more, the answer emerged: an in-app Net Promoter Score questionnaire once a quarter, and for users that were promoters, an automated prompt for a referral in exchange for a $100 Amazon.com gift card. Bingo. The referrals flowed in. Pleased initially with the referral push, I was not satisfied until we achieved better results.

As a leader and manager, you have to find that balance. Do you push more, or do you take the progress and be done with it? My favorite saying, after reflecting on this and thinking more about his perspective, is exactly how he described it: you want to be pleased but not satisfied. You want to share with the team or individual that you like the progress and the direction, but you’re not satisfied. There’s always something better, a next level, a new realm of possibility. So, the next time you’re working with a team and the result comes back, but you know even more is possible, tell them you’re pleased, but not satisfied. Stay hungry for more.