Are you taking care of your 100%?
I was reminded of a song the other day ‘Taking care of business…’ written by Randy Bachman and it led me to thinking that we talk a lot about working in our business or working on our business. It is like a living thing and sometimes we forget that it only works because there are human beings working in the business that enable us to deliver to our clients.
That reminded me of what Simon Sinek is quoted as saying:
100% of employees are people. 100% of customers are people. 100% of investors are people. If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.
In September we have Heritage Day in South Africa when people are encouraged to celebrate the diversity and traditions of all the people.
The people that work in our organisations, serve us in shops and restaurants, the police, nurses, firemen, teachers, jobs and organisations too many to mention. These are all part of the 100%.
If you want your organisation to flourish, then it makes sense to understand that your people need to flourish. If you want your people to deliver, then you need to make sure that you have given them the tools and skills to do that.
When you are struggling to deliver and meet the organisational targets what do you do?
- Pile on the pressure and demand more effort.
- Blame managers for not getting their staff to work hard enough.
- Threaten job losses.
- Cut costs in staff training and development.
Or do you?
- Look at the external forces that may be having an impact and reevaluate targets.
- Look at internal systems that may be slowing things down.
- Invite the team members to discuss the challenges and cocreate solutions.
- Look for ways to support the individuals and remove barriers to performance.
The reality is that managers usually have the job of taking care of the people. When things are going great, it’s good. However, when things get stressed and the manager’s amygdala gets hijacked, their reaction is will be one of the following fight, flight or freeze. None of them are very helpful for the manager or the team.
So, as a manager, if you want to look after your 100% in good times and bad times just remember you cannot achieve success alone. It helps to share the load and to utilise the strengths of the whole team.
TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More.
- Treat your people as your partners, together you can achieve results.
- Communicate with them frequently, whether it be good news or bad news. They will appreciate the honesty
- Congratulate them on their achievements and appreciate their efforts.
- Ask them for their help, their ideas and their challenges and listen to what they say.
When you struggle to delegate, appreciate and communicate then you should be talking to us as we can coach and support you to step confidently into your role as a leader of yourself and others. Check us out at: www.chameleonskills.com or write to: info@chameleonskills.com