“I think I’m part of the problem,” she said in amazement.
She’d tried to help her employee improve his metrics—for months!
She wanted him to be successful and thought she’d tried everything.
She’d even worked with HR to place him on a Personal Improvement Plan (aka PIP), but was worried he was going to lose his job.
Then, she discovered the intensity of her own natural wiring. This helped her realize that she, unknowingly, was part of the problem.
She processed information fast—but she suspected her employee didn’t.
“Do you sometimes feel like you’re drinking out of a firehose when we talk?” she asked him in her next 1:1 with him.
The employee was quiet for a moment.
Finally he said, “Honestly, I don’t get half of what you tell me.”
That was all she needed to hear to confirm what she suspected. She explained her natural wiring and made a commitment to change the way she led and communicated with him.
Together, they implemented strategies to close the gap. As a result, his performance metrics improved.
Not only did he not lose his job, but he was later promoted into a supervisor role! And even became an award-winning supervisor.
When we’re aware of our natural wiring, we can lead better.
We can make adjustments in the way we show up with our teams.
We can remove the blinders and clearly see where we are the problem.
And then, we can solve that problem.