Juxtaposition

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view -- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

- Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird

Mr. Finch would love imapMyTeam®.

It is not all that unusual to be left wondering why someone else did what they did; said what they said; thinks the way they did, etc. The reason that it is not unusual is that when we contemplate that situation, we are processing it through our own unique set of filters.

And something that you can count on is that people have very different filters that impact their perception of the situation and then how that perception drives behavior.

To simplify this complexity we look at broader dominant characteristics of behavior. Those are reflected in the team player grid or team dynamics grid found in imapMyTeam.com®. In both of these grids you want to pay attention to the other person’s need.

Despite outward behavior, people use their need to evaluate the person or the environment that surrounds them.   If one of your colleagues always reacts differently to the same person or environment than you – they have different needs.

This is important for us to know and understand because once we have a better understanding of what another person’s underlying needs or unique set of filters are, the better we understand their choices.

Spend time reviewing and understanding your teammate’s reports in imapMyTeam®.  This is the equivalent of ‘climbing into their skin and taking the walk’ that Atticus Finch suggests.  Follow his advice and see the world through new eyes, theirs!

 The ‘New’ Golden Rule

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Treat people the way you want to be treated. The ‘old’ Golden Rule makes a lot of sense.

You want to treat people with respect so they respect you. You are not rude to people because you don’t want to be treated rudely. It is civility. We largely expect it and are surprised when it is absent.

The core of "getting along" is about the rules, understandings and societal norms that, when shared, provide the foundation for stable relationships. We learn about what polite behavior and manners mean in the workplace [and our communities]. You might say that these rules provide a sense of order and civility fosters feelings of well-being and positive relationships.

Even though we largely practice this civility we still don’t get along very well all the time. Our interactions with others, despite our best intentions sometimes lead to unintentional slights or maybe escalate to a full blown misunderstanding or at worst perceived as intentionally antagonistic.

imapMyTeam helps you go past the ’old’ golden Rule to the ‘New’ Golden Rule:

Treat people the way they NEED to be treated.

That works far better than treating people the way YOU want to be treated.

Yes, we still want you to practice civility, but we want you to consider a new level of understanding that is based on what people need and expect from you when you interact with them.

The imapMyTeam.com® reports you access on others are mostly written to that person’s motivational needs. Those motivational needs set the individual’s expectations for the situation and interaction they are in. Those needs can be very different – even opposite on occasion – than the behavior the person outwardly exhibits.

Using imapMyTeam® report suggestions when you are interacting with your colleagues– the new Golden Rule – will make sure you do get along far better with everyone than you might have ever imagined.

 Trust and Energy

Last week’s Tuesday Tip addressed the issue of employee engagement thorough the ‘Motivation Equation’. We learned that Passion + Motivational Needs = Energy. This week we look at another essential ingredient that contributes to the energy levels of individuals and teams; trust.

Consider:

1)      A July Psychology Today article, tackles the engagement issue by asserting the degree to which employees are either engaged or disengaged is directly related to their level of trust.

2)      According to the APA 2014 Work and Well-Being Survey nearly 1 in 4 workers say they don’t trust their employer and only about half believe their employer is open and upfront with them.

The lesson is simple, and although you already know it – it is worth restating. Nothing is going to work well if there is no foundation of trust in the organization.

When you consider that most experts estimate approximately 70% of US employees may be actively disengaged, understanding the trust/engagement connection becomes critical to moving the performance needle in the right direction. 

imapMyTeam® has trust covered from every angle.

There are reports to develop self-awareness of how you build trust – and if it is in sync with how others need trust to be fostered with them. There is also a report to help you spot warning signals that other’s trust is waning.

That is a total of 3 reports that, combined, are an effective tool to make sure you are not on the wrong side of the trust statistics.

Engagement through the ‘Motivation Equation’

Employee engagement continues to be a hot topic.  It’s hard to read anything related to leadership these days without getting bombarded by stories and statistics of how bad engagement is.

If we apply the old adage of ‘where there is smoke there is fire’ to this topic, there is a whole lot of smoke…so there must be a fire somewhere. If there is “smoke” on your team or in your organization – or if it’s you that can’t seem to get engaged, imapMyTeam has a solution.

There are two symbols on your Team Player grid that when combined produce a powerful motivational scenario. Those two symbols are the asterisk and the circle. Together they are the Motivation Equation.

The asterisk describes what people love to do and the circle describes what people need from their environment and others around them. Both have to do with motivation.  When these two combined characteristics are met, what you love and what you need, you are energized and when you are energized you will be engaged!

Pay attention to what the asterisk indicates and you'll get better at matching what people love to do with what the business needs. Understanding the circle and people’s needs allows you to customize your approach in support what is important for them to receive from you and others.

Save the time – pass up all the engagement articles and instead apply the insights from the asterisk and circle, the Motivation Equation, for individual and team success.