Are you doing as well at managing relationships as you think you are? I was certain that I was doing a good job in managing a relationship that was very important to me. I always made sure I allocated time to be with them. I was very defensive of that time and did not allow others to invade that space.
In preparation for a leadership course I was asked to complete a 360 assessment. On the survey I ranked myself well in my ability to manage that relationship. Others ranked me well in the same category. What I discovered was the person I was working so hard to solidify the realtionship with did not rank me well in that category.
It did not matter what I believed or what I intended. The 360 degree feedback process gave me an opportunity to have a real discussion about the difference between my intent and impact and what that difference means. What the discussion uncovered for me was that simply being in the room is not good enough. People want you to be present. Even though I was often in the room I was not listening and communicating in a way that aligned with their natural methods. The message they were recieving was I was not listening and did not care. People want your devoted attention (measured in the terms in which they measure it.) For many this is how they know you actually care. The way I measured effort and caring was different and hence my intent did not match my impact.
Sometimes the best of intention and sincere efforts do not accomplish what we thought we were accomplishing. This is where the combination of 360 programs, personailty assesssments and manager training programs can provide a wholistic solution. You can gain the knowledge needed to be a best in class manager. They provide insights into the perceptions of others, their inherit needs and what you need to be doing to address them.
The tools and expertise offered by Advisa have been helping client companies address these issues for more than 20 years. Take five minutes to learn what type of leader you are and how we can help. Simply click the link on the right side of this page.
Have you heard about ARC for Leadership Development?
Monday, November 30, 2009 by
Aszure Grimes
ARC is a three step technique that is easy to remember and quickly sums up several key aspects of great training for supervisors when it comes to their team building skills and assessing its current state for corporate leadership training that really works.
- Awareness - Is there an awareness of employee morale and current work satisfaction levels? Often, we can miss the mark. Here, a 360 degree feedback process and personality assessments can be invaluable when it comes to finding out where your talent potential pool really lies and where the issues, large and small, actually lie.
- Readiness - Now that you know the scoop, leadership development training can be chosen strategically and provide what your leaders, present and those in the grooming process for the future, truly need. Maybe management skills training is needed? Or how to motivate employees? Why would that matter? It leads to work satisfaction and engaging employees which improves employees retention and employee productivity.
- Commitment - Here, the rubber meets the road. Doing the first two only have a purpose if you do the third. A strategic planning framework which includes implementing balanced scorecard can be helpful here too providing a guide for what needs to be done.
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