Matthew Wilkinson
March 9, 2021 at 12:16 pm - Reply
Does this work in practice? Anyone tried it in their company?
1
Matthew Wilkinson
March 4, 2021 at 8:46 am - Reply
Hi – we’re working on building our leader development programmes, recruiting and promotion process from Lie 4 and getting rid of competency frameworks – has anyone else built similar?
Take my strength seriously, it is my energy of growth. I am total agree with it. No one is perfect, something to build up authority in the group, you have to be spiky, I am in charge a project of 50 peoples with three month, I am know something you have to show your characteristic within you team. You have to be everyone’s back up and know what is most important point you need to delivery to your team mate.
This line was brilliant, almost as clever as O. Wilde. “the British fox hunt is the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible, then the competency model is the unmeasurable in pursuit of the irrelevant.”
Hi, this truth is so liberating. It, I am sure, will make us tolerant and accommodating to the people around us both at work and in our personal life. Each one of us is unique and we should not try to measure them with a standard scale/ definition/ minimum criteria and find the gaps vis a vis an ideal profile.
It can be so extremely difficult to know and define your own unique pointy strengths- that real point of distinction. I bet most great leaders are both self-aware AND not very humble about their own pointy-ness and greatness. (Though they may be humble in other ways, like knowing that they have a lot to learn…)
Since meeting Marcus on a flight from Denver to Omaha (and not recognizing him, while he asked me questions about my copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths!) I’ve believed that y’all are on to something special. To be a part of it is amazing. Looking forward to what comes next!
Gary Highley
December 12, 2018 at 11:09 am - Reply
This kind of links into what I have always thought of as a false mantra that we should treat everyone the same which I have observed as fostering mediocre performance. You are exactly on target with this one. I would build on Jeff Sinclair’s comment and say that we can look at sports teams as well. A great NFL football team is not made up of 53 quarterbacks and a basketball team is not all superstar point guards. It is how well they work together and play to and amplify each others individual strengths that matter. The team “chemistry” is important. The individual will perform best in their area of natural interest and expertise. Awesome stuff!
Michelle Elrod
December 11, 2018 at 3:07 pm - Reply
helpful vs necessary – you just defined the issue I am having with my children and their goals….everything is not necessary. THANK YOU!
Ashley Goodall
December 12, 2018 at 3:00 pm - Reply
So happy to hear that! Thanks!
Elizabeth Huebner
December 11, 2018 at 8:40 am - Reply
“What’s the recipe for a world-class singer”. I think that statement terrifies hiring managers. In a lot of cases, it feels like they’d rather have an imperfect recipe that is very specific than no recipe at all. I am a true believer in what you describe as the spiky nature of successful leaders, and it is also a huge culture shift to start embracing it!
Michelle Marie Jackson
December 7, 2018 at 1:02 pm - Reply
Loved the discussion about the 4th Truth & looking forward to the book! Given how excellence emerges and learning takes place, how would suggest competencies be use for development of employees? I’m thinking they still serve a function at least as definitions so we can recognize the skill or ability.
I’m sorry I arrived just a little too late for the live event. But, loved the recording and the message.
Wow! This so liberating! To think that you don’t have to find, or to look for some “template” of what “good” looks like. You don’t have to try to imitate some predefined idea of what you (or anyone) should look like. To be able to acknowledge the uniqueness of each individual and to encourage and promote the strengths each one brings to the team. That is fantastic! I love the idea.
The challenge then becomes: How do you find out what is the true gift you have and how to grow it? And how to do that for those around you (at home and at work)?
Ashley Goodall
December 12, 2018 at 3:15 pm - Reply
Sonia–thanks for the comment. In short, the “how” is this: pay attention, closely, to your emotional relationship with the things you’re doing every day. When you’re looking forward to something, or don’t notice time passing while you’re doing it, or aglow when you’re finished it, that’s a clue–and it’s a sign to investigate more, to understand what it was about that thing that energized you. If you can make a habit of that, and encourage others to do the same, then you will quickly zero in on both where your gift lies and how to grow it.
To use Ashley’s word, this Truth is hugely “liberating.” Of the four Truths revealed so far, this is the one that I think would have the greatest impact if everyone in the workforce heard it because it pays such respect to our individuality and the strengths we each bring to the party.
So tired of the time, energy, and futility of building, administering, and executing competency models. Blech!
3
Ashley Goodall
December 5, 2018 at 12:59 pm - Reply
“Blech!”–yes! I wish we’d put that word in the book!
4
Sarah Coochey
November 29, 2018 at 11:39 am - Reply
So very true. I think when we’re having discussions about people in the annual process we discuss the stuff that makes each one successful but we don’t embrace the differences, we try and then update the framework and replicate the current example of excellence and make mini me versions of that person.
As an HR professional I’m dying to hear the truth so I can think about how I might be able to apply this and unpick the structures and industries we’ve created. I guess when we get in to big organisations we try and make things simple by trying to boil everything down to a process or framework whether if its to just make our jobs easier or to treat people fairly and equally. I am a firm believer of treating every person in the business as an individual I’m now trying to reconcile it with how we manage large groups of people.
1
Ashley Goodall
December 5, 2018 at 1:00 pm - Reply
Simplicity is good, but I think we should beware of trying to make things tidy at the expense of individuality–and ultimately at the expense of true excellence. Look forward to hearing what you think of the Truth today!
2
Mike Courtney
November 29, 2018 at 7:17 am - Reply
Man I totally agree. This matches up nicely with “Playing to our Strengths”. We are not good at everything!
We seek to define our children by their “sameness” using subjective measures to assess competencies and then wonder why, when they enter the workforce they have little or no creativity or social skills. We then re-engineer them to make them, even more, the “same” and use more complex versions of assessment ensuring that the spark of individualism and excellence is totally annihilated. We are deconstructing character, capability and calling free thought ‘dysfunction’
Boy, does this resonate. So well said. I am a “recovering” public school teacher and this is precisely the reason we pulled our youngest out of a supposedly “top public school.” They actually told her in 5th grade to “Stop writing so much or you’ll never finish on time on the mastery test.” Who says that? People who work in an environment that teaches to a test do.
This is really something that we struggle with in my organisation. People are scored on a 4 point grid – concern, developing, on-track and excel. When someone is excelling at something, their managers want to ensure they develop all the other areas, similar to the report card example you gave. I have been working at trying to get people to focus on strengths – but it isn’t easy!!
1
Laura Carraway
November 28, 2018 at 5:50 pm - Reply
Thank for this conversation and topic. The group of managers that reports to me has been asking me to define the skills and knowledge they need to gain to be promoted. I have been struggling to define it some because then it becomes generic and does not play to their strengths. I am interested to see in the session on December 5th how else I can help define success that makes sense for their individual growth while still maintaining a level of excellence they need in being a successful leader. I have been working with each of them to assign projects that they align with personally or play to their strengths but now they are looking for more ways to develop and I want to support that in a way that makes sense not just how we have always done it.
This is awesome. The myth of `balance` drains us from growing where we thrive. Earlier in life, there were many things I tried to bring change into my life but it was about me putting on a facade of acting how someone else would act to be successful. Decades later it became apparent that within me there were strengths that could be nurtured to grow areas of excellence.
There is another aspect to this. It is the belief that we need to compare ourselves to each other. In order to accurately compare one person to the next, you have to have a common comparison standard. Thus, we end up creating the standard around averages regardless of how few people naturally thrive in this facade. All this virtual reality we are creating is just a chance to actually achieve the myth of reality we have been chasing. It does speak highly of the human spirit and our ability to overcome and survive these challenging belief systems.
I wouldn’t want to see Tom Brady from the Patriots blocking for me on the offensive line or used as a running back but he is considered in the top 3 QB’s of all time and has led his team into 8 Super Bowls in 16 years. Michael Jordon is considered as one of the greatest basketball players but he didn’t do so well as a minor league baseball player. He averaged 30 points per game (best ever) but is not even in the discussion for top rebounders of the game. He averaged 6 rebounds per game. Even Larry Bird averaged 10 per game. Both of these players focused on the talents that had to become one of the best that ever played in their position of their respective games
4
Jeff Sinclair
November 28, 2018 at 1:20 pm - Reply
Love this! As members of the Team I’m on say….”The Avengers aren’t comprised of five Capt. America’s for a reason…!” Good leadership encourages everyone’s evolution; their unique pathways to their individual greatness, by tapping into their passions.
6
Michelle Marie Jackson
November 28, 2018 at 11:06 am - Reply
I couldn’t agree more – it is time to really look at our theory of excellence. Here is the Under Armour commercial with Misty Copeland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KZKrQVo1A. It demonstrates how limiting and stifling our definitions can be if we don’t remain open to discovery and learning.
My guess is that Truth 4 is “The best teams are well-rounded.” And this makes perfect sense. Some of the best leaders I know are horribly “unrounded.” But they are aware of their own unroundedness, and they strive to assemble a team populated by people whose strengths make up for their own weaknesses. Leaders whose self-identity is wrapped up in their ownership and wielding of power have a pretty hard time admitting that they are not well-rounded, will never be well-rounded, and most importantly don’t need to be well-rounded if they are able to assemble the right team and make decisions as a team. This requires devolving power from the leader to the team as a whole. Love this series! Keep it coming, Marcus and Ashley!
I completely accept that people not only excel in different things and more importantly in different ways. And I believe a good leader plays to the individuals in their teams’ strengths. I also believe having an understanding of what people aren’t good at is as important and allows you to create a well rounded team where many parts/people can create (a unique to that team) whole. i.e. Have a diverse set of strengths and weaknesses in the team. BUT I also think it is important to expose people to wider thinking, to give them the opportunity for a more holistic view and to help them appreciate other people strengths and how they may be contributing differently and validly to them. This can also create collaboration and trust between the team members if appreciation is shown.
Carolina Perez Sanz
November 28, 2018 at 9:23 am - Reply
This is so true. I’ve always felt incomplete or unacceptable because I’m not “well-rounded” in that sense… And I push my kid to excel in everything, when it’s not possible or even productive. I’m looking forward to listening to the truth when it’s revealed next week.
I bet the team is ready. Ready because they are made up of strong players that don’t share balance or skills. What the do share is the ability to make a decision based on a variety of perspectives and then act as a team once the decision is made.
How does exposing people to new things/skills/areas of expertise to see if they have the talent that can then be developed fit into this theory? I don’t know if I’m good at something unless I have learned about it and tried it.
The first person to do something had no one to teach them. There is nothing wrong with learning from others but that is not as much of a limitation as we make it. My approach is to seek the best opportunity but not to be limited by the existing opportunities when one can be created!
2
Meredith Bohling
November 30, 2018 at 12:54 pm - Reply
I would never argue against trying new things, it’s the way that organizations force you to attempt to improve on the traits and states that you’ve tried and disliked.
Does this work in practice? Anyone tried it in their company?
Hi – we’re working on building our leader development programmes, recruiting and promotion process from Lie 4 and getting rid of competency frameworks – has anyone else built similar?
Take my strength seriously, it is my energy of growth. I am total agree with it. No one is perfect, something to build up authority in the group, you have to be spiky, I am in charge a project of 50 peoples with three month, I am know something you have to show your characteristic within you team. You have to be everyone’s back up and know what is most important point you need to delivery to your team mate.
Really enjoying the messages in the book and found Chapter 4 to be my favorite so far!
This line was brilliant, almost as clever as O. Wilde. “the British fox hunt is the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible, then the competency model is the unmeasurable in pursuit of the irrelevant.”
I love that his dog is watching through the patio door.
Hi, this truth is so liberating. It, I am sure, will make us tolerant and accommodating to the people around us both at work and in our personal life. Each one of us is unique and we should not try to measure them with a standard scale/ definition/ minimum criteria and find the gaps vis a vis an ideal profile.
It can be so extremely difficult to know and define your own unique pointy strengths- that real point of distinction. I bet most great leaders are both self-aware AND not very humble about their own pointy-ness and greatness. (Though they may be humble in other ways, like knowing that they have a lot to learn…)
Since meeting Marcus on a flight from Denver to Omaha (and not recognizing him, while he asked me questions about my copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths!) I’ve believed that y’all are on to something special. To be a part of it is amazing. Looking forward to what comes next!
This kind of links into what I have always thought of as a false mantra that we should treat everyone the same which I have observed as fostering mediocre performance. You are exactly on target with this one. I would build on Jeff Sinclair’s comment and say that we can look at sports teams as well. A great NFL football team is not made up of 53 quarterbacks and a basketball team is not all superstar point guards. It is how well they work together and play to and amplify each others individual strengths that matter. The team “chemistry” is important. The individual will perform best in their area of natural interest and expertise. Awesome stuff!
helpful vs necessary – you just defined the issue I am having with my children and their goals….everything is not necessary. THANK YOU!
So happy to hear that! Thanks!
“What’s the recipe for a world-class singer”. I think that statement terrifies hiring managers. In a lot of cases, it feels like they’d rather have an imperfect recipe that is very specific than no recipe at all. I am a true believer in what you describe as the spiky nature of successful leaders, and it is also a huge culture shift to start embracing it!
Loved the discussion about the 4th Truth & looking forward to the book! Given how excellence emerges and learning takes place, how would suggest competencies be use for development of employees? I’m thinking they still serve a function at least as definitions so we can recognize the skill or ability.
Dog watching through the window ha ha
I’m sorry I arrived just a little too late for the live event. But, loved the recording and the message.
Wow! This so liberating! To think that you don’t have to find, or to look for some “template” of what “good” looks like. You don’t have to try to imitate some predefined idea of what you (or anyone) should look like. To be able to acknowledge the uniqueness of each individual and to encourage and promote the strengths each one brings to the team. That is fantastic! I love the idea.
The challenge then becomes: How do you find out what is the true gift you have and how to grow it? And how to do that for those around you (at home and at work)?
Sonia–thanks for the comment. In short, the “how” is this: pay attention, closely, to your emotional relationship with the things you’re doing every day. When you’re looking forward to something, or don’t notice time passing while you’re doing it, or aglow when you’re finished it, that’s a clue–and it’s a sign to investigate more, to understand what it was about that thing that energized you. If you can make a habit of that, and encourage others to do the same, then you will quickly zero in on both where your gift lies and how to grow it.
To use Ashley’s word, this Truth is hugely “liberating.” Of the four Truths revealed so far, this is the one that I think would have the greatest impact if everyone in the workforce heard it because it pays such respect to our individuality and the strengths we each bring to the party.
So tired of the time, energy, and futility of building, administering, and executing competency models. Blech!
“Blech!”–yes! I wish we’d put that word in the book!
So very true. I think when we’re having discussions about people in the annual process we discuss the stuff that makes each one successful but we don’t embrace the differences, we try and then update the framework and replicate the current example of excellence and make mini me versions of that person.
As an HR professional I’m dying to hear the truth so I can think about how I might be able to apply this and unpick the structures and industries we’ve created. I guess when we get in to big organisations we try and make things simple by trying to boil everything down to a process or framework whether if its to just make our jobs easier or to treat people fairly and equally. I am a firm believer of treating every person in the business as an individual I’m now trying to reconcile it with how we manage large groups of people.
Simplicity is good, but I think we should beware of trying to make things tidy at the expense of individuality–and ultimately at the expense of true excellence. Look forward to hearing what you think of the Truth today!
Man I totally agree. This matches up nicely with “Playing to our Strengths”. We are not good at everything!
We seek to define our children by their “sameness” using subjective measures to assess competencies and then wonder why, when they enter the workforce they have little or no creativity or social skills. We then re-engineer them to make them, even more, the “same” and use more complex versions of assessment ensuring that the spark of individualism and excellence is totally annihilated. We are deconstructing character, capability and calling free thought ‘dysfunction’
Boy, does this resonate. So well said. I am a “recovering” public school teacher and this is precisely the reason we pulled our youngest out of a supposedly “top public school.” They actually told her in 5th grade to “Stop writing so much or you’ll never finish on time on the mastery test.” Who says that? People who work in an environment that teaches to a test do.
This is really something that we struggle with in my organisation. People are scored on a 4 point grid – concern, developing, on-track and excel. When someone is excelling at something, their managers want to ensure they develop all the other areas, similar to the report card example you gave. I have been working at trying to get people to focus on strengths – but it isn’t easy!!
Thank for this conversation and topic. The group of managers that reports to me has been asking me to define the skills and knowledge they need to gain to be promoted. I have been struggling to define it some because then it becomes generic and does not play to their strengths. I am interested to see in the session on December 5th how else I can help define success that makes sense for their individual growth while still maintaining a level of excellence they need in being a successful leader. I have been working with each of them to assign projects that they align with personally or play to their strengths but now they are looking for more ways to develop and I want to support that in a way that makes sense not just how we have always done it.
This is awesome. The myth of `balance` drains us from growing where we thrive. Earlier in life, there were many things I tried to bring change into my life but it was about me putting on a facade of acting how someone else would act to be successful. Decades later it became apparent that within me there were strengths that could be nurtured to grow areas of excellence.
There is another aspect to this. It is the belief that we need to compare ourselves to each other. In order to accurately compare one person to the next, you have to have a common comparison standard. Thus, we end up creating the standard around averages regardless of how few people naturally thrive in this facade. All this virtual reality we are creating is just a chance to actually achieve the myth of reality we have been chasing. It does speak highly of the human spirit and our ability to overcome and survive these challenging belief systems.
I wouldn’t want to see Tom Brady from the Patriots blocking for me on the offensive line or used as a running back but he is considered in the top 3 QB’s of all time and has led his team into 8 Super Bowls in 16 years. Michael Jordon is considered as one of the greatest basketball players but he didn’t do so well as a minor league baseball player. He averaged 30 points per game (best ever) but is not even in the discussion for top rebounders of the game. He averaged 6 rebounds per game. Even Larry Bird averaged 10 per game. Both of these players focused on the talents that had to become one of the best that ever played in their position of their respective games
Love this! As members of the Team I’m on say….”The Avengers aren’t comprised of five Capt. America’s for a reason…!” Good leadership encourages everyone’s evolution; their unique pathways to their individual greatness, by tapping into their passions.
I couldn’t agree more – it is time to really look at our theory of excellence. Here is the Under Armour commercial with Misty Copeland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KZKrQVo1A. It demonstrates how limiting and stifling our definitions can be if we don’t remain open to discovery and learning.
My guess is that Truth 4 is “The best teams are well-rounded.” And this makes perfect sense. Some of the best leaders I know are horribly “unrounded.” But they are aware of their own unroundedness, and they strive to assemble a team populated by people whose strengths make up for their own weaknesses. Leaders whose self-identity is wrapped up in their ownership and wielding of power have a pretty hard time admitting that they are not well-rounded, will never be well-rounded, and most importantly don’t need to be well-rounded if they are able to assemble the right team and make decisions as a team. This requires devolving power from the leader to the team as a whole. Love this series! Keep it coming, Marcus and Ashley!
I completely accept that people not only excel in different things and more importantly in different ways. And I believe a good leader plays to the individuals in their teams’ strengths. I also believe having an understanding of what people aren’t good at is as important and allows you to create a well rounded team where many parts/people can create (a unique to that team) whole. i.e. Have a diverse set of strengths and weaknesses in the team. BUT I also think it is important to expose people to wider thinking, to give them the opportunity for a more holistic view and to help them appreciate other people strengths and how they may be contributing differently and validly to them. This can also create collaboration and trust between the team members if appreciation is shown.
This is so true. I’ve always felt incomplete or unacceptable because I’m not “well-rounded” in that sense… And I push my kid to excel in everything, when it’s not possible or even productive. I’m looking forward to listening to the truth when it’s revealed next week.
I bet the team is ready. Ready because they are made up of strong players that don’t share balance or skills. What the do share is the ability to make a decision based on a variety of perspectives and then act as a team once the decision is made.
How does exposing people to new things/skills/areas of expertise to see if they have the talent that can then be developed fit into this theory? I don’t know if I’m good at something unless I have learned about it and tried it.
The first person to do something had no one to teach them. There is nothing wrong with learning from others but that is not as much of a limitation as we make it. My approach is to seek the best opportunity but not to be limited by the existing opportunities when one can be created!
I would never argue against trying new things, it’s the way that organizations force you to attempt to improve on the traits and states that you’ve tried and disliked.