So you’ve decided that you want to raise your game at improving the performance and growth of your people (please see my previous post, Talent Development Is The Best Investment). What is the best way to proceed?

With each employee, start by seeking to understand where that person wants to go with his or her career. What are they trying to do? Is this a person who wants to be CEO someday, or one who absolutely loves, say, product design and simply wants to excel at it?

To do this effectively, companies have to respect all career aspirations. If I, as the person who controls your compensation and performance reviews, asks you where you want to go in your career… you need to be able to answer honestly without fear of negative repercussions. If I “write you off” as soon as you admit to wishing to change departments, then you (and others) will no longer be honest with me.

The best way to accomplish this is to think in enterprise terms. Your intention should not be just to develop a stronger subordinate, but rather to grow talent that can move and add value across the entire company as appropriate.

Be collaborative, not critical. This isn’t just a sly way to get employees to work 20 percent harder. Help the other person gain a clear understanding of what you are trying to do here. Your intention is to take a talented person and make it easier for him or her to leverage and deepen their talents in a more satisfying and productive way.

Identify the real issue(s). While not easy, zero in on the one or two areas for growth that will have the most impact on each person’s effectiveness. For an entire year, it might make sense for a person to work on simply by getting better at communicating. Or maybe the focus needs to be on accountability, because he or she is not maximizing the team’s performance.

Recognize that much of the benefit comes between the sessions a leader has with his or her direct reports and those they mentor. If done right, you have open and constructive feedback and dialogue, and then the person spends two months trying new behaviors and approaches. Afterwards, you check back in again. What went well? What did you learn? Where do you still need help?

Above all else, make it a top priority. Don’t shorten sessions when you get busy. Don’t skip them because “there’s real work to do.” And never, ever mix a coaching session with a regularly scheduled business meeting. Killing two birds with one stone is a sure fire way to diminish the value and impact of the process.