It’s important to realize that the rate with which your company grows is directly tied to the rate with which your people grow. And as an exceptional manager, one of your most important jobs is people development.
A couple years ago, I was engaged in a Quarterly Operational Planning Meeting with one of my clients. One of the department representatives invited to this meeting was a quiet, unassuming, and timid young lady.
Throughout the day, however, she continued to make spot-on observations that identified various obstacles, inefficiencies, and opportunities that, when addressed properly, would create significant momentum for her department and the company. She was a quiet observer, understated, and under the radar. I had a feeling she was a rising star!
Rising Star Ready To Shine
Intrigued by her insights, I made it a point to get to know her during the next few months. It turns out she was bright, capable, very aware of her surroundings and related workflow inefficiencies, etc. She had a great attitude and a tremendous work ethic. She was an inside sales rep responsible for lead generation.
Based on her performance, she was well-positioned for a promotion, but what was holding her back?…
It was her head trash. She had negative, self-defeating scripts running through her brain telling her that she wasn’t worthy of greatness. She didn’t feel she was good enough, smart enough, or worthy of earning much more than she currently made. In some weird way, she felt she had peaked at the ripe old age of 27.
By incorporating the Care/Conflict/Communicate model, we re-wired her brain and dealt with all that head trash, so she could see the greatness and potential within. At first, we had some conflicting points of view with regards to what she was truly capable of accomplishing.
Initially, she had set a goal for herself to increase her W-2 by 15% the next year. I asked her to entertain the idea of doubling her income the very next year. Immediately, her Head Trash kicked in.
She felt that was entirely possible for some, but not for her. Some life experiences left her believing she wasn’t worthy. Her head trash was really balking and putting up a fight. However, she had great potential and needed to see it, so as her self-appointed, volunteer business coach, I pushed back against her head trash.
As we went through the process of creating a bigger vision for herself, she said knowing that someone truly believed in her made all the difference in being able to defeat her negative self-talk and create a big future.
The result…she did double her income the very next year…no kidding!
How’d We Purge The Head Trash?
Build a Genuine Relationship
As we built a coaching relationship, she stated that this was the first time she felt like someone truly believed in her, and cared about her success and happiness.
Create a Big Vision
Once she knew I genuinely cared about her success and happiness, the rest was easy. We established mutual trust. She knew I wouldn’t let her down or set her up for failure by suggesting an unachievable goal.
I asked her to envision a future where she made twice the money she currently made. At first, she rolled her eyes, made a disapproving face, and then jumped in…she was ready to play.
Then the real fun began, because we started to discuss what had to happen to double her income. So fun!!! We didn’t stifle the vision development process by putting a time-line on it. The immediate goal was for her to convince herself that doubling was possible!
Understand Your Success Map
When she struggled answering the questions about her personal growth goals, it was clear she never gained clarity regarding her unique abilities (strengths).
Instead, she focused on, and actually obsessed about, her weaknesses. She didn’t realize that if she spent her entire life trying to strengthen her weaknesses, at the end of her life, all she’d ever have is a stronger set of weaknesses. Nothing powerful to leverage.
So we changed her perspective by asking her to focus on reinforcing and leveraging her strengths so she had a power base to create success from. Then we identified the habits and behaviors (her Success Map) that when applied consistently, would create consistent performance over and over again.
Ultimately, this rising star continues to be a top performer benefiting both herself and her corporate team. In a short amount of time, she has grown into a very successful outside salesperson now earning three times the income she made just a couple years earlier…she now earns a healthy six figures!
As an exceptional manager, keep an eye out for these employee development opportunities. Understand that recognizing and developing hidden talent is a deliberate act that should be a part of your management priorities and corporate culture.
In helping your employees realize their full potential, you will contribute to the development of a committed employee, a strong team, and a healthy corporate culture.
Remember, no head trash allowed :)
If hearing the particulars of this story would help you or your partners, send me a note or give me a call: phil@mydlachmanagement.com and (414) 315-0523. You can also get on my calendar directly for a free discovery call here: https://pmydlach.youcanbook.me/.
My background
My career path started out at IBM before moving on to start, build and eventually sell two technology service companies. From there, I’ve been a global channel development partner, and personal/corporate achievement coach helping leaders and teams break through to the next level.
Break Through
If you or your team needs help breaking through to the next level of performance, or if you have a friend who’d appreciate having access to me as their personal and/or corporate achievement coach, please reach out for a free discovery call or email me at phil@mydlachmanagement.com.
See what past and present clients have to say about our work together or check out additional blogs and podcasts .
