As Spring comes I see the energy go up in people. Containing and regulating that energy so you give consistent results in a consistent and reliable format is something leaders are constantly struggling with their teams.
People tend to ebb and flow much like our seasons which makes it tough for a leader when you are trying to raise accountability. A great way to do this is through keeping and maintaining your one hour of strategic time per day. John and Theresa are two leaders who are doing a fabulous job making their strategic time a high priority. Both have said they can’t believe how much work they are able to get to in that one hour and more importantly, how having that one hour has balanced their brain. They each said they find they can crank out more work (approximately 3 plus hours a day more) AND that they now can leave work on time due to their higher productivity.
The more you as a leader are able to regulate your energy, the better you will be at holding others accountable for their energy. Work this next month on building that consistency in so that you get off the roller coaster or gerbil wheel and you can help your teams perform higher.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to grow your leadership team, give us a call for a free 20 minute consultation to assess your team and what can be done to help them move forward.
******************************************************* “I want Anne to share with me..” Get a personalized Video Blog that answers YOUR burning questions!
While other companies make generic video blogs, we want to get to the heart of what you, a Valued Outcome Thinking® fan, really wants answered.
So each month you will have a chance to send in to us your question so we can create a video blog that gets directly to what you want to know! Simply WATCH NOW, Leave a Reply with your question and click Submit.
Outcome Thinking® Solution
How to handle an unfocused person
by Anne Warfield
Situation
Anne I have an individual that is a hardworking contributor. This person has a good attitude, is always willing to help others and happily takes on projects when I ask her. So you may ask, what is the problem?
I find that she has a hard time focusing herself. She seems to bounce from one thing to the next never fully completing anything or taking anything to a new level.
She has been with us for 3 years and during that time has willing taken on 3 different roles for me as I have shuffled her around. She never complains and always is committed to what I ask her to do. I find though that if I don’t have iron tight description of what to do she seems to spiral in to a tailspin and not function as well.
Right now I am taking accountability for putting too much on her plate and scaling back what I have asked of her. I am thinking that she is just pulled in too many directions so now I am creating a new focused role for her. Am I deluding myself or is it truly just a focusing issue? She is a good person and I want to do what I can to help her.
Other Person’s Perspective
She wants to succeed and be a part of the team. She has a sincere desire to grow. She wants to be seen as a solid contributor to the team.
Thinking it Through Using Outcome Thinking®:
I commend you for your dedication to your team and trying to do right by a person. One of the toughest things as a leader is to separate out what a person is naturally talented at (their brain thinks through it well and they develop the skills necessary to succeed) and those things that are not natural for a person’s thinking and thus would be a skill they will never excel at.
Yes, there are natural ways of thinking that make it easier for some people to do things that others would flounder with. I find the best leaders have a natural curiosity, high intuition and persistence. This bodes well when trying new things as they will gladly take on any challenge.
I have found that not everything can be learned. Some brains are naturally geared for curiosity and others for exactness. One is not better than the other but, yes, certain skills are easier for a curious brain to learn than an exact brain and vice versa. Thus, you as a leader, had better become good at watching the thinking patterns of people to ensure you are putting them in positions that naturally fit their skills while stretching them and move people out of positions that will cause them to flounder or may have a negative impact on the team.
In this instance, since you told me you have already moved her around three times, I would say you have most likely run in to a challenge with her way of thinking that is not suited to what you are requesting of her or what your department needs.
I am armchair quarterbacking here as I have limited facts but I will run with what you have shared. At the core it seems she has an inability to remain curious and persistent so she tirelessly follows things in order to execute well. Instead she seems to stop short in her execution which is leading you to feel that “if you just narrowed it down for her” she could be successful. Most likely that won’t work.
I have found that in these situations typically what the person is best suited for is work that has a consistent routine, that is highly reliable and can have clear parameters. Also due to the lack of strong curiosity and persistence they usually like rules and a formula they can follow that builds their confidence. I would look for a good solid back up position this person could play and be a significant contributor but not have to manage lots of people or projects but instead assist others with projects.
Remember not every person’s brain is suited for every job. If you want to find out what each member of your team’s thinking pattern is just go to our website and sign each person up for our Team Communication. (If you want to send more than 5 through it, call us to get a discount)
Best Handled/Phrased:
“Sylvia, in the role I currently have you in the ability to execute flawlessly to completion is a large part of your job. For the last few years you and I have tried changing things around, narrowing scopes etc. looking for that magic formula that allows you to take a project fully to completion. At this point I am not seeing the drive to completion as something that is suited for you and I feel like we are not setting you up to be successful.
So I see us having a few options open to us:
1. We look at the solid skills and positive attitude you have and look at roles that don’t require you to be the key driver or leader but instead a very strong back up role. This will allow you to bring all of your knowledge and skills forward but not have to be the one organizing the entire project nor the one to push others to get their work done.
2. We look at firm commitments of what needs to be met if you want to remain in your current role and there will be no wiggle room on deadlines. This means you will have to change how you do things in order to make sure you complete all obligations.
I will support either option for you. I just need you to tell me which you want to pursue as my whole goal is to help you be successful.”
Deal of the Month!
How To Increase Your Team’s Performance by 25% With Less Stress
In this teleseminar you will learn what blocks messages from getting through and how to say your message so the other person hears it and acts on it! You will learn how to build a coherent group that thinks strategically, speaks clearly and transforms results faster with less stress.
Click here to register for the “Successful Communication, Brain Style Analysis” Virtual Training, a 90 minute training session with a personalized Outcome Thinking® Communication Assessment included, that you can now watch anytime that is convenient for you.
Quoteable Quotes
“Success is a journey not a destination.”
~ Ben Sweetland
Do Less, Gain More Employee Accountability
There is a strange phenomenon I find among leaders-they are often causing their own greatest problems by trying to do something nice.
I often see leaders who realize their workers are over taxed and so the leader steps in to help out. Seems admirable on the cover but unfortunately it often has dire unintended consequences.
Read how using a Roadmap can show people what you’re talking about
A Roadmap is the path that shows people what you’re talking about. It might go something like this: “We have found that we can actually shorten processing times of claims by up to 20%…
“Before participating in the Managing Your Message Seminar sometimes my nervousness took over and I wasn’t able to mask my emotions when it was an emotional meeting.
Now with Outcome Thinking® I now know the path to follow to stay focused, get my point across and be effective. I would encourage this training for our company. Many others would learn great tips and how to manage their communication effectively.”
Kakieta Harvey, Admitting Supervisor, HealthPartners
Copyright 2016, IMP. Feel free to share information you learn. All we ask is that you credit us as the source as everything we are putting in here is copyright protected by our office.
Copyright note: Submission of an e-mail message or artwork affirms that you are able to and have given Anne Warfield non-exclusive permission to reprint the content of your message in all forms, electronic or otherwise, in all languages throughout the world.
Privacy Statement: We will not distribute your address to anyone. Period.
