Recognizing Employees Worth Fighting For
There is one critical ability in employees who are worth doing everything in your power to keep around. The great news is that it’s an easy one to recognize and it is one that is relatively difficult to fake for any extended length of time. But before we highlight this critical talent, lets examine the journey of a typical employee.
THE BEGINNING = ENTHUSIASM
As an individual starts a new job, this could be a promotion, a new business, an new role at a new company, they begin with enthusiasm. This new role is a new challenge and it reflects some sort of accomplishment. Some may refer to this as the “honeymoon” phase or the “fantasy” phase as it resembles a certain amount of ignorance to the reality of the new role. It ignores some of the obvious problems that they will inevitably have to overcome. But that’s okay. If we didn’t start with enthusiasm, we would miss the moment of celebration and we’d become overwhelmed before we even got started. It’s important to celebrate as the next phase is just around the corner.
THE PROGRESSION = REALITY
At some point the individual sheds the manic attitude towards the new role and begins to see the reality of the position. The new is no longer new and exciting, instead it is just that, reality. There is no saying how long this stage will exist for a person but it is were most team members spend the majority of their working life. Inevitably at multiple points in their career they will come up against some barrier, some problem or frustration halting their steady progress.
THE PROBLEM = FRUSTRATION
This frustration can take many forms. It can look like a speed bump in their progression or a hurdle they have to overcome. It can be the point where they feel stuck or at their own self leadership capacity. They may feel like their not seeing any results or their banging their head against the wall.
THE FORK : DECISION
This is where the critical ability comes into play. It is the point where the individual experiences a fork in the road.
The question is will the individual turn the frustration into a decision, the decision being, “Will I acquire the skill to overcome this frustration?”
This single decision to acquire the new skill is the critical ability required if you will succeed or fail in your given field.
FAILURE TO DECIDE
If an individual fails to decide to acquire a new skill they have decided to deal with the previous frustration or problem by avoidance. They inevitably go down the lower side of the path and eventually become jaded to the position and likely burnout. They will most likely abandon the position and eventually end up at another company to visit the same cycle again. They believe the new company will not have the same problems and start with a new boost of enthusiasm. Eventually reality will set in and they will meet the same frustration, taking an all to familiar path to avoidance and abandonment.
SKILL ACQUISITION
If the individual decides to acquire a new skill, whether it be through reading, coaching, advise or even apprenticeship, this single decision leads to a repeating path of growth.
They will eventually, through persistence turn that new skill into an expertise, and will charge forward with enthusiasm.
Though just like the first time down the path, they will meet very similar phases. They will believe that this new skill will solve all their problems, and while it will likely have increased their capacity, it will not solve every problem. They will move into the reality phase, coming to grips with the fact that there is no “silver bullet” and will inevitably fun into a new frustration.
If they have developed this ability to turn frustration into a decision and decide to acquire a new skill set they will repeat the same pathway and experience similar success.
That’s an employee worth fighting for.
There are two simple question you can ask when coaching these types of employees that will give you a clue to whether or not they have developed this ability. These two questions come from a larger set of coaching questions developed by Michael Bunga Stanier:
What challenges are you experiencing?
What do you plan to do about those challenges?
Individuals who have the ability to self reflect on their current position and identify some options to acquire a new skill are the types you want to keep as you grow you team.
So, what’s the core advice here? Look for opportunities in the lives of the employees you lead to walk them through this skill pathway. Name the phases and help them realize they have a decision to make. Then fight to keep the one’s who continue to add skills to their arsenal.
