When people are unable to use what they are naturally good at in their role, they are generally bored, frustrated, or both, and therefore don't do their best.
The following are details of a recent conversation:
My exasperated prospective client we will call Roger, says "I've tried everything with Stuart (his son). Sent him on courses, paid for his MBA, had coaches in, you name it. Yet he is still the worst manager I've got."
Me: "What are your son's unique talents or gifts?"
Roger: "He's really got an eye for detail, loves analysis. Give him a set of numbers, a product to design, plans for the new fit out, anything like that, he's great. It's just that he's hopeless with people!"
Me: "Is Stuart able to use his gifts in his present role?"
Roger: "Ah. Well no, not really."
Me: "When people are unable to use what they are naturally good at in their role, they are generally bored, frustrated, or both, and therefore don't do their best. I suspect Stuart might be a square peg in a round hole."
The conversation continued to see if there was a role in the organisation where Stuart could use his gifts. There was (unfilled), so we proceeded to plan to shift him into that role. I have no doubt Stuart will soon be happy and the corresponding productivity will follow.
What are your natural gifts? Have you identified your employee's gifts? For each role at your workplace, is it defined by the following:
- Purpose of role and where it fits with your business purpose.
- Key relationships the role connects with.
- Key responsibilities.
- Performance standards for each responsibility.
- How feedback is exchanged about performance informally and formally.
- How performance is recognised and rewarded.
- The consequences of great and less than great performance.
- and above all, the gifts that are essential for excelling in the role.
Knowledge, skills and attitude are necessary - gifts are paramount. I initially look for people's gifts then look into the rest.
For me there are five broad kinds of gifts people have and a myriad of ways we bring them to life, each of us in our own unique ways.
Here are some examples:
- Intention gifts
- Service: gift for giving without expectation of getting back.
- Purpose: gift for being clear of purpose in life and living it.
- Ethics: gift for doing things right and doing the right thing.
- Driven: gift for not being sidetracked no matter what the hurdles may be.
- Feeling gifts
- Empathy: gift for feeling with others.
- Interpersonal: gift for getting on with people.
- Enthusiasm: gift for being inspirational in any situation.
- Understanding: gift for understanding others without judgement or prejudice.
- Thinking gifts
- Questioning: gift for asking the right questions at the right time.
- Visualization: gift for seeing and creating actions in the mind first.
- Strategic thinking: gift for seeing all the scenarios for the future and choosing the most appropriate direction.
- Problem Solving: a gift to think things through and come up with the most appropriate solution.
- Doing gifts
- Courage: gift for making a stand when no one else is.
- Focus: gift for goal planning and following plan.
- Persistence: gift for staying the course and not giving up.
- Efficiency: gift for achieving tasks in the best way possible.
- Being gifts
- Presence: gift for attracting good just by being true to oneself.
- Spiritual: gift for understanding the interconnectedness of all things.
- Integrity: gift for saying what we mean and meaning what we say.
- Trust: gift for being trustworthy.
Possible action
- Make sure the roles that people need to fulfill to make your workplace a success are clearly defined along the lines described above.
- Match people to your defined roles.
- Identify people's gifts before assessing their knowledge and skills.
- Place a priority on retaining and recruiting people who have the gifts and the attitude necessary to fulfill the role.
- Never recruit anyone who has the knowledge and the skills for the role however you can't quite pin down their gifts and their attitude.
- Lead in ways that inspire people to bring everything they are to everything they do (my definition of leadership).
- Manage in ways that make it easy for people to bring everything they are to everything they do (my definition of management).
Buy Ian Berry's Audio Seminar CD from the Resource Centre:
What Real Leaders Do And Fake Ones Don't