Everyone is special.

I taught both of my daughters how to drive.  Oftentimes it is an opportunity to see your whole life pass before you.  I remember telling my eldest daughter one day, “Honey you have to drive a bit more aggressively.”  She was simply being overly cautious and careful as many first-born children do.  My other daughter was a completely different story.  “Hey lead foot, ease off the gas before your old man has a heart attack right in the car.”  You guessed it, the baby of the family.  Raised in a slightly less-structured environment than the older one.  Everyone is special.

A team is a collection of individuals and the leader’s job is to create an environment for the team to achieve ever-greater things together.  While in theory it is a good idea to treat everyone the same, reality is quite different.  

Some high-achieving individuals are giving you their best effort most all of the time. They are totally devoted to the company and have been known to work day and night to do their best, while others simply don't have that kind of dedication or self-motivation.  

So next time you stand in front of everyone in the company and implore the entire team to dig deeper and try harder, you stand a chance of pushing "Mr. or Mrs. Hard Driver" right off the cliff.  “What does he want from me?  I’m working as hard and as fast as I can.  I’ve devoted my entire life to this company.”  Meanwhile, “Mr. Low Achiever” is wondering what he is going to order for lunch and is minimally fazed by your exultation's. 

Oftentimes you need to spend one-on-one time helping over-achievers to throttle back the engine a bit.  They need balance in their life to keep performing at a high level and the leader is uniquely qualified to make certain they stay fresh and motivated as the high achiever is the last person you want to lose.  They will appreciate the extra attention and if you are going to focus on lifting the effort it is always best to lift the effort and spend valuable management time with your best employees.

That is why leaders need to choose their words with more care when they are speaking to large gatherings of diverse team members, as the leader is holding a rather large and powerful megaphone that leaders can forget they carry as they picture themselves as just another member of the team.  I become mildly terrified thinking about what would have happened if I had told the youngest one to drive more aggressively! 

 

Comments

[Shari Frisinger]

One of the worst things a leader can do for the very same reasons listed above is the "group chewing out". Those people whose actions should be corrected won't think it applies to them. Those people who acted appropriately will take the leader's words to heart, change their behavior and feel badly about it. The more the leader is aware of and understands the behaviors of their team, the higher engagement and loyalty the team will have to the leader.

[Aldo Cevallos`]

Hi Andie,
Step by step you are turning yourself into the leadership arena. Here is an article that helps you to understand how teams are formed by leaders.
love Poppy

[Ralph Heath]

You are so correct Shari on both points. Often times it is the leaders reflex reaction to failure to become angry and start yelling and place everyone in the same performance bucket. I had a football coach that relied heavily on that method for what he perceived was motivation. I thought it produced the opposite outcome.