How to Bring Out the Best in Others
Performance can’t be improved until it’s defined.
The truth about bringing out the best in others:
You’re supposed to bring out the best in others, but what does that mean? How is it measured?
Simple behaviors can be measured because they can be observed.
It’s frustrating when bringing out the best in others is a goal, not a process.
Bring out the best in others is a set of behaviors.
The truth about development:
In order to develop something, it must be distilled into essential practices.
You don’t know how to do something until you can describe what you’re going to do next.
5 tough questions about performance:
#1. Why aren’t people doing what they’re supposed to do?
#2. How might you be proactive instead of reactive about performance? You’re frustrated that people aren’t bringing their best, but what do you do to bring out their best?
#3. What if lack of performance is a leadership problem?
Recurring frustrations suggest you’re tolerating behaviors you should confront.
How are you modeling performance? Do you ignore nagging issues, arrive late for meetings, or expect others to do things you don’t do?
Hypocrisy in you promotes low performance in others.
#4. How are you making expectations clear? Do you say what you want?
#5. How are you screening for responsibility during the hiring process?
7 practices that bring out the best in others:
- Leaders participate. Exemption for higher ups is NEVER allowed.
- Expect more from yourself than you expect from others.
- Treat everyone the same. Favoritism destroys initiative.
- Walk around. Distance and detachment destroy performance. Notice what people are doing on a regular basis. Noticing lets people know they matter.
- Always do what you say. Dependability and performance are two sides of the same coin.
- Apologize when you screw up.
- Clarify commitments.
What practices enable leaders to bring out the best in others?
Bonus material:
The Keys to Building a High-Performance Culture (Gallup)
5 Simple Ways to Bring Out the Best in Others (Fast Company)
Part of the issue is that “BRING OUT THE BEST IN OTHERS” is about as “UN-smart” an objective as you could write. “Best” is very nebulous – and unfortunately that allows simplistic, inaccurate measurement, leading very easily to Macnamara’s Fallacy. Often, “best” is defined in terms of money-making or efficiency (because they’re easy to measure and hey, who doesn’t love the bottom line?), but I think that really is missing the point you’re trying to make Dan.
Thanks Mitch. Thanks for pointing out the “best” isn’t just about numbers or money. It’s so simplistic to think that bringing out the best in someone is pushing them to increase output by 5%!
How to bring out the best performance in others?
As a management/leadership teacher, I often think about this question.
People’s performance is impacted by several factors including their:
1. Priorities
2. Confidence and self-talk
3. Skills
4. Motivation
5. Also, the clarity of the goal or expectation.
The first thing I try to do is figure out what’s holding the person back. Then, determine the actions I can take to support his/her improvement.
Diagnose the problem, before providing a solution.
Thanks Paul. When you write about figuring out what’s holding a person back, I think about a balloon that’s held down by sandbags. Throw the dead weight overboard and the balloon will rise. 🙂
Expect more from yourself than you expect from others. I do this all the time whether leading or following. My supreme challenge is holding back my disappointment when others just do not have the passion that I have. It bugs me to no end. Patience Roger, Patience, now I am better.
Roger,
Do you take time to figure out why they lack passion for your mission or agenda?
Paul: Maybe I need to put it in a better format to truly understand. I’ve stated it before on this forum. I was raised by a Father and Two Grandfathers who were driven with passion for all they did every day. It rubbed off on me and I dive into everything I do and have been successful at it. My challenges are when I see most others just sometimes going thru the motions as if giving your best all the time and pouring passion into your efforts is secondary. So is my comparison of different passion levels valid, yes it is. Can I expect others to have the same passion if they did not grow up as I did nor experience over many years what I’ve seen; not really I guess. I just don’t see how I can drive passion when its not there in the form I have. Do I see competence, yes, enough to get the work done but there is so much more to work and life than just getting it done. That’s at least how I see it.
Thanks Roger. There are some dark realities to expecting more from yourself than others. We could overwhelm people. Or as you indicate, we can become disappointed that others don’t seem to catch the fire.
Glad you’re better. 🙂 I’m going out to breath.
Good afternoon,
The nature of this piece comes across as unrealistic. Nevertheless, we can still create a dialogue and discuss the subject matter at hand. Everyone IS already the BEST that they can or will ever BE. It’s not a matter of bringing out the “best” per se, but a matter of developing, growing, evolving the nature/consciousness of who you are.
It seems that America society has embraced a culture of doing its best to change/define others. No man has the power to define the nature of another man. I do not believe that is humanly possible. I know on my personal path the more I search for the truth of who I AM. The more I see who I AM. The difference is I am seeing myself in a new light. However, that is a road I must travel down myself.
I actually would become offended/insulted if someone in a leadership/management position approached me and informed me they intended to bring out the “best” in me. The first question I would ask is: “So, how do you plan on doing that?” That is a choice I would make for myself. Not to mention it takes years of work to bring out the best in yourself. You do not pop a magic pill and in the blink of an eye become another person. Besides a leader or manager would have to know me on a deep personal and human level to judge me in that manner. Or would have to know me very well outside of the workplace. I understand the importance of being professional, being a team member and displaying emotional intelligence in a business setting. Yet, employee or not, I refuse to allow someone to turn me into something other than who I AM. I would never let someone have that much power or influence over my life.
A person is hired because they have the credentials to perform a task/duty within an organization. Of course an employee should maintain a professional attitude, mindset and mentality. But to the best of my knowledge people aren’t hired to have the “best” pulled out of them. That’s something that will happen through real-life experiences.