Thursday, January 03, 2008
Seeing With New Eyes
Many people make New Year Resolutions—this year, I am not one of them. Rather than set unrealistic expectations and fail or create simplistic goals just to feel a sense of accomplishment, I’ve decided to try a new course. It came to me in a most unexpected place...a hospital gift shop.
The Dilemma:
As hard as it is, I felt the need to replace a key player on my team. It was partly based on performance but more just intuition guiding this way of thinking.
Conventional Wisdom:
When someone on a team is not meeting expectations and you have provided adequate and consistent feedback then a change is necessary. There are lots of ways to make changes in this case the most drastic of which would be to end the employment relationship. But, is this the best action for the team AND the individual?
New Eyes:
There was no reason for me to be in that gift shop (I was not visiting anyone) but felt compelled to stop when driving by. While paging through a book, two other shoppers started arguing near me and clearly were on opposite sides of the issue. Then it happened—one of them went completely still and asked, “Instead of this being one or the other, can’t it be both?” Ah - there was the key!
How often are you as a team leader faced with a situation and automatically fall into a ‘EITHER/OR’’ mindset? Consider the possibility of switching your thinking to include a ‘BOTH/AND’ option.
The Solution:
Pondering my employee situation, I used the ‘BOTH/AND’ technique and asked myself, “How can I keep this person AND still accomplish my business goals?” I was surprised how limited my original thinking was, and amazed at how many new choices presented themselves.
It takes a savvy leader to give up a certain amount of control (both in thinking and practical application) to broaden the possibilities to bring out the best in their team.
Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie