Two Minute Drill: Going There
What’s up Kaizenovators, Happy Tuesday Two Minute Drill. Today’s topic of conversation is “going there.” Over the past few days, I’ve had to face some rather tough conversations. Some of these discussions have been challenging for me personally. I feared that I might have made some errors in certain aspects of my work, so I had to ask some tough questions.
Tough Conversations
Did I make an error in judgment? Did I make a decision that may not have been ethically correct? I had to ask these questions to people I respect, individuals directly affected by the decisions I was making. These were not easy discussions, by any means.
I had to have a conversation with someone about whether or not they were going to be staying in my company. It’s a scary conversation. Are you leaving? Are you staying? Why are you leaving if you’re leaving? It’s a very difficult conversation. This person is not someone who was necessarily in my direct report, but someone with whom I’ve worked for almost 10 years.
Then there were other conversations about people not meeting my expectations, about performances and behaviors that I just didn’t appreciate. I had to go there and help these people understand what’s expected, and why these particular behaviors weren’t meeting the mark.
Luckily, some of the conversations I’ve had about the decisions I was making have come back very positive. I’ve learned a lot from them. The conversation I had about a potential employee leaving turned out well – they’re not leaving and they’re very happy in their role, and we talked about more opportunities for them.
Then there’s the conversation about performance expectations. That’s a work in progress. I’ll keep you all posted on that. But I think the important part of this week’s two-minute drill is that you have to go there with people, and most importantly, you have to go there for yourself because otherwise, there’s so much cognitive dissonance that takes place.
It really hurts your soul. So go there. That’s this week’s two-minute drill. You guys have a great week. Talk to you all next week.
Your questions and feedback are always welcome and appreciated!
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