Vitamins or Aspirin?

Dan and Chip Heath, authors of the book Made to Stick, made an observation that many businesses make the mistake of trying to sell "vitamins" rather than "aspirins". According to their premise, while it is true that someone may develop chronic headaches due to a poor diet, until you stop the pain (with the aspirin) you aren't likely to move that person on toward any lifestyle changes. It's hard to concentrate when you are in pain.

This same premise holds true for your employees in relation to motivation and improved performance. As leaders and coaches, we have a tendency to try to "rally the troops" through motivational meetings and pep talks. To our surprise and disappointment, they seldom if ever achieve any lasting change. A deeper investigation into the situation might prove that we are trying to "feed" our head-achy employees vitamins when aspirins are needed; we're trying to motivate them rather than find out what is causing the poor performance in the first place. Instead of holding pep rallies we need to be holding clinics.

Assuming you have the right employees "on the bus", motivation will not be a problem; the right people don't need to be tightly managed or fired- up. They are self-motivated by the inner desire to produce the best results and to be a part of creating something great.  

A supervisor's responsibilities then,  in relation to employee performance, lie in making sure that the right people are in place and impediments to excellence are minimized or eliminated. 

Take some time this week to do a health checkup in your practice. 

Do You Have "Novocaine Hands"?

A number of years ago I saw a movie starring the comedian Sinbad in which he played a con-man who impersonates a dentist. In one particularly memorable scene, he makes the mistake of washing his hands in novocaine rather than soap, then he tries to perform a dental procedure as his hands dangle numb and useless over the patient. Pretty funny scene.

But this scene set me to thinking about one of the most common reasons that we fail as leaders; it is because we are egotistical. You see, we have a common misconception of what it means to be an egotist. We mistakenly believe it is about thinking too much of ourselves; but that is not the case. Being egotistical means thinking too little of others. It means we are insensitive to the needs of those around us. As a leader, that is like trying to perform a dental procedure with "novocaine hands". As clear as you may be in what you want to do, you have no connection with those that must actually implement your ideas - your "hands", so to speak.

If you are unaware of what those you lead really need from you in order to be successful, you are going to get very disappointing results from their efforts. Your, and their, failure is guaranteed.

Turtles Can't Climb Trees

Alex Haley, author of Roots, is reported to have kept a picture in his office of a turtle sitting on a fence post. When someone asked him why, he would say that it was to remind him of a lesson that he learned a long time before. He said, "If you see a turtle on a fence post, it's a pretty sure bet he had some help getting there". He continued on to say that any time he was tempted to think of himself as a pretty big deal, he would look at the picture of the turtle in order to remind himself that none of us ever get to lofty positions without the help of others.

The role that you are in now is a result of the past efforts of others: parents, teachers, former bosses, mentors and others. You may be incredibly talented. You may be extraordinarily bright. You  may be perfectly suited to the role you now play; but you didn't get there solely on your own. You had help.

Now, as a manager and leader, you have the opportunity to help others; to help them make a climb that they can't make alone. Start paying your success forward. People-development is life changing for everyone involved. And, if you haven't done so recently, take a minute to send a heartfelt thank you to someone who has helped you along the way. Gratitude changes attitude.