Managing the IMPACT of What You Do BEST!
The business world doesn’t always get it right. Doesn’t matter if you work for the government, a non-profit, or a for profit company, every industry has employed some type of review process for the people they employ. Every personal review nearly always includes things a person is doing well and things the person needs to improve or work on. In the end, the process ends up being extremely short-sighted. Here’s why. It rarely takes into account the specific skill sets and uniqueness of the person being evaluated. It’s more of a “here’s what we want from your position, and you need to adjust who you are to best fit what we’re looking for” scenario. In many cases, if not most, it’s a counterproductive and counterintuitive process leaving the employee focused on where they’re failing and feeling threatened about their future. Anxiety and stress get heaped on an already precarious thought process. Bummer…
It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s a thought process that can offer you great value for both your personal and work life. The gist of it involves accepting the things you’re not great at or the things you struggle improving on and throwing all your focus on the things you’re really good at and growing the value those things can offer.
Lately, I’ve been bombarded with the old saying: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. More and more people are embracing this saying and utilizing it to self-inspire positive change. What does that change look like and is there a process we all can utilize? There is and I’m about to share the simplicity of the thought process.
I’ll never forget a friend in high school who was an incredible drummer. I was amazed with his talent the first time he invited me to listen to him play down in his basement. After blowing me away with his masterful drumming, he offered to let me try. I sat down at his drum set and began striking the snare drum along with a symbol attempting to establish a consistent beat. He stopped me and said I was supposed to be utilizing both of my feet along with both of my hands. We both quickly realized that I could at best only coordinate two of my four appendages at any one time and that being a drummer was never going to be in my future no matter how much time, effort, and focus I put into it. Drumming was obviously part of my friend’s genetic profile but appeared to be completely missing from mine.
At the same time of my life I was playing some pretty good tennis, even winning some tournaments for my age group. I realized that playing the drums couldn’t bring any value to my life and that tennis could. I’ve continued to play tennis long into adulthood and it continues to bring me joy and great value. I’m fortunate to have learned a solid life lesson while I was still in high school. The lesson included being honest with myself about what I was and wasn’t good at and assigning value to unique set of skills and knowledge. The next step was maximizing the value of what I did well and enjoying what others did well that I never would. Think team approach. It’s time for me to tie all of this together.
When being reviewed at work, the reviewer has normally been trained to begin with all the things the person is doing right followed by areas the person is failing at or struggling with. The person is then asked to keep doing what they do well but put more time and effort into improving something that, due to their DNA, they may be incapable of. Even with a ratio of 10 good things to 1 area that needs improvement, when the person leaves the reviewers office, what is burned into their mind? Right! The 1 thing that’s holding them back. Where does their time, energy, and focus flow to moving forward? Right! What they don’t do well. What tends to suffer most? All the things they do really well, which results in a decrease of that persons ongoing value to the organization they work for. Was that the goal of the review process? Not even close.
The thought process I’ve been describing takes on a higher level of importance for parents. It’s rare that parents pause while raising their children and assess the things that become apparent that their child is good at and the things they struggle with. Here’s where a division occurs. Is the focus on getting them to greatly improve the things they’re not good at or greatly improve the depth of what comes easily to them? While it may be hard to discern early on, consistently assessing the value of a child’s growing skill sets can offer great benefits that last a lifetime. Note that I said assessing, not micro-managing.
Back to the working world. Whenever a worker is assessed, the assessment should be tailored to a focus on their strengths and how to improve even more the things that they’re good. The responsibility falls on the assessor to figure out how each individual’s skill sets can bring maximum value to the company rather than trying to force someone down a path they struggle to navigate.
What does all this mean to you? Get out a sheet of paper and write down all the things you’re really good at. Analyze how much time you spend on improving THOSE things and recognize that time spent on things you don’t do well bring a minimized amount of value to your overall life. I believe you’ll be impressed with how many things you’re actually pretty good at. Keeping your focus on those will bring you consistent joy in life. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!