Talent Will Only Get Us So Far

From sports to work, we see so many individuals with an incredible amount of talent that still somehow manage to jack it all up and fall flat on their faces. Whether it be the charismatic new employee that can charm management, the eager recruit that oozes with potential or the biggest and fastest athlete, it is apparent that it takes more than raw skill to survive and prosper in this world. It’s takes a special “it” to move beyond flashes in the pan to consistent, long-term success.

Today I’m over at Performance I Create discussing exactly what that “it” is and how it can take us from potential to the promised land in our careers. Here’s a quick sample:

…listening to sports analysts and reporters talk about the best in the game, they will talk about on-field stuff, but the conversation always go back to what that person does after the cameras go off and their teammates go home. We’ll often hear of how much time the person invests in developing their craft or niche in the weight room, film room or with personal trainers and coaches. They study…

I hope that you enjoy the full post HERE and I asked that you take it to heart and share it with anyone that is relying on talent alone to get ahead.

Check out my post and those of my fellow contributors for relevant, in-your-face, performance altering insight at Performance I Create!

Performance He Created

Two and a half years ago, a group of HR practitioners and bloggers took a chance on me, this rookie blogger that was trying to find his place in the game. After only being in the HR social media space and blogging world or a few months, having anyone notice me, yet alone reach out to ask me to participate in anything, was quite the shock. Thankfully, along with a few of the other contributors, Chris Ponder decided that I would be a fit for the team at Performance I Create.

I didn’t know what to expect, especially since I was the new kid on the block. To help ease me into the group, Ponder (as we affectionately call em) opened up every line of communication to me in case I had concerns, questions, or if I just felt the need to talk ideas through. His openness and his ability to come up with important, relevant and timely HR topics helped to provide a structure for me that I didn’t have at that particular time in my career, especially because of the what I was doing professionally.

Ponder’s ideas, organization and leadership helped me not only write my pieces for PIC, but for this site as well. Because of PIC’s structure, I learned that I could express myself in writing in both formal and informal ways. I believe that it was this balance that enabled me to make a little name for myself in the HR and social media space…growing ruHRelevant, networking with more practitioners at various SHRM conferences and ultimately becoming a “veteran” among our outstandingly thorough and thought-provoking troop.

I am happy that Chris Ponder is finally able to explore things now that he couldn’t previously because of his time commitment to Performance I Create, but I’d be lying if I said that his decision to move on from the site didn’t make me a little sad.

I find comfort now in knowing that the team that he helped to assemble is a determined and strong one…one that will take Ponder’s vision of Performance I Create and build on it. While we were working to improve performance in the workplace, Ponder helped to create performance in me as this site stretched me to do things I didn’t really know I was capable of. Because of the outlet he created, I know that we will continue to grow and Create Performance, 500-800 words at a time.

Please continue to support me and my PIC family at Performance I Create; as our best is definitely yet to come. Thank you to Chris Ponder for everything you’ve done for me, the Human Resources profession and the entire social media space and blogasphere!

#ThanksPonder

Workplace Astigmatism

For the last 10 years, I’ve boasted that my vision has not changed. I laugh at optometrists when I walk into their examination rooms because I know that the result is going to be the same…”Well Mr. Harris, everything is fine…no difference…here’s your prescription.” to which I say buttholishly, “I know! Told ya things are the same.”

Because of this status quo, I take eye exams for granted; only going when I actually need new glasses due to wear and tear…which is like every 5 years. I actually get tired of putting myself (and my money) out there to have my time wasted…until my visit a week ago.

This trip I entered confidently as I usually do, preparing my normal giggle and forming my mouth to say my usual know-it-all words, until Dr. Eyedude says, “Your right eye has changed. We’re going to switch your prescription and it may be a little drastic.”

When you think that nothing has changed, everything has

Not having had to look through “different” lenses for so long, I found myself being uncomfortable on my way home. The change was making my head hurt. Things were blurry. I didn’t like it. Was it because it was unexpected? Was it because something was different? Was it because it was unwelcomed? Maybe it was because I had gotten too comfortable. Too used to knowing what everything looked like and how everything was supposed to feel. The moment a new process was introduced, a new person was brought aboard, a new policy took effect…wait, am I describing your office or my eyes? Hmm? Maybe both.

As we get older, more experienced, more tenured, we must face the inevitable fact that things must and will change. Our vision, our surroundings, and the ways our businesses must operate all change. We can either roll with it, adjust or we can resist and remain in denial. That denial stems from the fact that we think things are fine just the way they are and we think that if we don’t acknowledge it, it’ll just go away.

Resistance to change can be costly

If I had paid regular attention, not been so arrogant and stubborn, maybe a drastic change could have been avoided or eased into. The gradual change would’ve helped me to make better adjustments. Being open to changes in the way our companies must do business will help our employees make better decisions as it relates to the new normals. Maybe they need regular examinations and consultation…I mean evaluations and one-on-ones…so that any issues can be identified early before they become problematic and cost us in the end.

What’s better? One or two? Two or three?

The next day, I could see things better. The headache had gone away. Those moments of temporary discomfort turned into my new, clearer reality. It took me getting broken down and taken out of my cocky comfort zone to realize that acceptance, flexibility and acknowledgement helped the headaches to go away and for things to seem clear again. I had to be humbled by the fact that I don’t know how bad things are until someone shows me something better, different, clearer.

Does your job give you “headaches”? Is it them or is it you refusing to adapt? 

Let’s not wait until it’s too late to let someone check us out. Let’s take some feedback and let it make us better. Let’s understand that us becoming more seasoned is when more changes need to occur…as opposed to things always having to change to our liking. Yielding to necessary adjustments may be blurry at first, but it can ultimately help you to see your vision more clearly in the end.

Leadership Position, Follower Mindset

I see a lot of things in my line of work. Organizational issues, backbiting and fighting, several people that need to shut up and sit down, but more importantly, people in leadership positions that need to stand up…and actually lead.

Today at PerformanceICreate.com, I’m discussing how critical it is for a person in a decision-making role to command the respect of their peers and coworkers by not only talking a good game, but by having the right mindset and taking the right actions. Here is a sample:

Leadership requires seeing the field from a broader view. Being able to recognize things when those who are in the trenches don’t or can’t. As an employee, I must be able to trust the person that I’m following knows where we are going and how to get there…and at the very least knows how to find out quickly if they don’t…

Click HERE for the full article and please share!

Check out my post and those of my fellow contributors for relevant, in-your-face, performance altering insight at Performance I Create!

A P.I.P. Shouldn’t Be An R.I.P.

It’s so easy to say that employees should just go away when they’re not performing the way we want them to or responding to our management. The hard part is not actually getting them to change behavior, it’s actually admitting that we can do more to get them to where they should be.

PIPs or Performance Improvement Plans are often used by companies as the last ditched effort to shape up those “troubled” employees before we ship them out. Others use them as merely a coaching tool to get the attention of their people so that other forms of disciplinary action doesn’t have to be taken. I’ve seen PIPs in memo form, worksheets and templates, and I’ve even seen them delivered in emails. But regardless of how we format them, they should all have the same elements to be effective:

• Clear areas that our employees need improve upon to remain a part of our teams
• Challenging, yet achievable goals and deadlines for expected improvement
• A plan of action for achievable said goals
• Steps in which the manager can contribute and help the employee reach optimal performance
• Fair and consistently applied actions that will occur if the desired performance isn’t met

We cannot use the word “Improvement” in the plan if we are not truly trying to achieve it. How we communicate during the delivery, and the words and tone used during the meeting should not feel like a death sentence or as if we are setting the employee up to fail.

There is no need to rehash the issues that we’ve had with the employee, but should focus on the behaviors that cause those issues that need to be altered or adjusted. Bringing up old stuff, especially if those incidents have caused negative conflict before, will surely turn your performance improvement meeting into a counter-productive blame session where no one is listening.

If we want our employees to listen, they must feel as if they are believed in, like they can make it and that they are being supported by members of management. Not only is this communicated in the document and meetings themselves, but by actually following up frequently to ensure that the necessary steps in the plan are being acted on.

So ultimately, a lot of the responsibility comes back to the manager. Not just delivering a document so that we can check a box, but managing our employees to yield the results that we need.

And isn’t that what management is all about? Not just supervising processes and expecting everyone to fall in line, but by providing resources and teaching people how to be successful in our systems.

If we want to get rid of someone, let’s just do it and move on to the next. Like Joe Clark said in the movie Lean On Me, “Don’t f#&% around with it…do it expeditiously!” But if we actually want them to get better, we must communicate it, make them believe it and show them how serious we are about them making it through the process.