Three Questions To Transform Your Check-Ins With Team Members
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I recently heard about a great leader who guided a feedback conversation with a team member using just three questions:
How are you feeling about your autonomy?
How are you feeling about your mastery?
How are you feeling about your purpose?
That’s it.
Well, that, and a lot of listening. The conversation lasted over an hour.
No formal assessment. No corporate inauthenticity.
Just a genuine check-in on what matters most to people at work.
These three words - autonomy, mastery, and purpose - come from Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
In it, he identifies them as the core drivers of intrinsic motivation; what fuels people to do their best work from the inside out.
When a leader asks about these three words, three powerful things happen:
It guides the conversation. No need to guess where to begin. These questions go straight to the heart of what’s working — and what’s not.
It inspires the employee. It signals that their inner experience matters, not just their output. That they’re seen as a whole person.
It gives the leader insight. If the leader wants to grow, this feedback is gold. It shows where their leadership can evolve to better support their people, and to keep top talent engaged and committed.
It’s simple.
It’s profound.
And it only works if it’s sincere; if the questions come with real curiosity, care, and the willingness to act on what’s shared.
Questions for you:
Have you ever had a leader ask you these kinds of questions?
What would your answers be today, about your own autonomy, mastery, and purpose at work?
