What does salad have to do with your Q3 revenue—and with Employee Engagement?

If you are a busy manager, you’re probably thinking, “Nothing. I have real problems to solve.” This reaction is a symptom of a specific trap that quietly limits Employee Engagement and keeps many capable leaders from reaching their full potential.

Think about this: how much of your week is spent acting like a historian instead of driving Employee Engagement? You look at last week’s numbers, review yesterday’s mistakes, and sit in performance reviews dissecting things that have already happened and cannot be changed. When leadership energy is consumed this way, Employee Engagement slowly erodes.

If that sounds familiar, you are likely living in the “reactive trap,” one of the biggest threats to sustainable Employee Engagement. You have one foot on the gas, but your eyes are glued to the rearview mirror, waiting for a crash just so you can ask, “Why did you hit that?” It is exhausting—and more importantly, it is inefficient for building Employee Engagement.

I want to offer you a different way to spend your energy, one that strengthens Employee Engagement without exhaustive meetings or complex HR frameworks. It requires just one shift: moving from feedback to feedforward.

The Difference Between Feedback and Feedforward

The traditional model of leadership relies heavily on feedback—a retrospective look at past mistakes. While necessary in small doses, over-reliance on it weakens Employee Engagement by creating a culture of defensiveness. When you call a team member to discuss “what happened,” their brain instinctively puts up a shield. At that moment, Employee Engagement drops because they stop listening to learn and start listening to defend.

An effective alternative that elite leaders use to improve Employee Engagement is called feedforward. Instead of dwelling on a past that cannot be changed, feedforward focuses exclusively on future possibilities and forward momentum.

Feedback asks: “Why did you mess up that presentation last week?”
Feedforward asks: “What are two things we can do differently next time to make that opening slide land with more impact?”

The psychological shift is profound. Feedback feels like judgment, while feedforward feels like partnership. This shift alone can dramatically elevate Employee Engagement by signaling trust and shared ownership of success.

Escaping the “Data Point” Trap

Here is where many mid-to-high-level managers get stuck: they get so busy that people start looking like data points. When leadership reduces individuals to performance scores and deliverables, Employee Engagement suffers because the human element disappears.

But here is the reality: if you treat people like machines, they will give you the bare minimum required to function. If you treat them like people, they will give you their best—and that is where true Employee Engagement lives.

Let me give you a personal example of proactive leadership in action. I make it a point every month to talk to my team—not about KPIs or deadlines, but about them. During one conversation, I asked about personal goals, not work targets. A team member shared that she wanted to fix her eating habits and start including more salads in her diet.

A reactive manager would nod and immediately switch back to business, missing a powerful Employee Engagement opportunity. I didn’t do that. I shared that I had the same goal and suggested we support each other.

That simple moment changed our everyday interactions. Our casual conversations became a positive space where we encouraged each other instead of complaining. That shift strengthened trust, morale, and Employee Engagement in ways no performance review ever could.

Why This Matters for Your Business Strategy

By connecting on a human level, we built trust, which is the foundation of Employee Engagement. Research consistently shows that leaders who demonstrate genuine interest in their employees’ whole selves see measurable gains in performance and retention.

When you admit that you struggle too—even with something as simple as eating healthy—you flatten the hierarchy. You humanize leadership. This approach fuels Employee Engagement by signaling, “I care about your longevity, not just your output.” That five-minute conversation did more for retention than a 5% raise ever could.

3 Ways to Implement Leadership Strategies That Work

You do not need to overhaul your entire management style overnight to improve Employee Engagement. Start with these three proactive shifts:

1. The “Future-First” Pivot
In your next 1:1, do not start with a review of last week’s tasks. Start with the future.
Ask: “Looking at the month ahead, what is the one personal or professional win you want to achieve, and how can I help you get there?”
This question directly reinforces Employee Engagement by focusing on growth, not blame.

2. Swap “Why” for “How”
When a problem occurs, resist asking, “Why did this happen?” That question looks backward and weakens Employee Engagement.
Instead ask: “How do we ensure this goes smoothly next time?” This forward-looking approach builds solutions and accountability.

3. Invest in Trust-Building Time
Take five minutes to learn who your people are outside of their job descriptions. Maybe they want to run a 5k, learn Spanish, or simply eat healthier. Small, consistent curiosity compounds into long-term Employee Engagement.

When you focus on the human being standing in front of you, you stop just managing output and start inspiring outcomes—and that is the true power of Employee Engagement.