By Lorraine Grubbs
In last month’s article, I talked about a business scenario where I took the tools I introduced in earlier articles and applied them in a real-world coaching assignment. John, the newly appointed Chief Pilot for a small aviation company, was lacking basic leadership skills and his boss had retained me to teach him how to be an effective leader. During our first meeting, John strutted in, cocky and arrogant, and proceeded to let me know what he needed to do. In addition, he didn’t listen, take notes, or engage in any two way conversation. After giving him feedback that this was not a good start and he admitting that he needed help, we wiped the slate clean and started again. I gave John the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) Personality Assessment. I also asked him for the names of 6 people that he worked with so we could distribute a 360-degree leadership assessment to them about John.
So, here we were, a month later, with the results of John’s MBTI and the 360 in hand.
“Good morning, John,” I stated, as he walked into the Starbucks and sat down. “Good morning!” John said, and then reached into his briefcase to take out a pad and pen. “How’s it going?” I asked. “Well, it’s going okay, I guess, but I have so much going on, I’m still trying to sort things out,” he replied. “That will continue to be the case,” I said, “for quite a while. You see, learning to be a good leader is a long road and the student just starting out has much to learn. So, are you ready to start?” “Sure,” he said.
I placed the Myers-Briggs results in front of him and we went over each area. As an ENFJ, he would need to understand his own preferences and then learn to appreciate that other people’s preferences would be different…not wrong, but different. I explained that in order to be an effective leader, he first needed to know himself. The MBTI assessment was critical in helping him understand how he communicates, how he takes in information, how he makes decisions, and how he lives his lifestyle.
As we concluded the MBTI assessment review, he was excited to apply the information to the team. “Remember,” I told him, “learning about your preferences does not give you the right to judge others…it’s about appreciating the differences your followers have and adapting your style to theirs for better communication. Now, are you ready to review your 360 leadership effectiveness survey results?” “Sure,” he said, confident that his scores would be high and the comments his team gave him glowing.
As I pulled out the report, it showed the areas he excelled in, but more so, it showed many more areas he needed to improve. “What?!” he said, “Look at that low score…Steve must have given me that low number! He’s never liked me and….” “John,” I gently interrupted, “this is not about who said what. Further, you have no idea who said what because these results are anonymous. I want you to consider the bigger picture. If you want to grow as a leader, you’ve got to accept that you are doing some things wrong. Many times what I find is that someone may do something without intending any harm, but because they don’t know any better, they come across the wrong way. Perception is reality. Whether you intended to come across as harsh, not caring, and arrogant is not the issue here. The reality is that they interpreted your actions as such and obviously, you need to learn to do things differently so you can dispel that perception.” “Wow,” said John, “this isn’t easy.” “No,” I said, “it’s not. You have just been ‘told’ by your team that you are not as effective as you thought. Now, what are you going to do about it?”
And, humbled, John said “Ok, coach, I’m ready…. what do I need to do to change this?” “Well, I said, “let me give you a couple of suggestions. I want you to avoid going back and pointing fingers and trying to find out who said what. That would be one of the worst things you could do. You need to build the trust of your team. I would start out by meeting with each one and letting them know that although you did not like what you saw in these results, you want to thank them for being honest in their assessment and here’s what you’re going to do to improve from this moment forward.”
“Okay,” said John, “I’ll do it but should I meet with them as a team or on an individual basis?” “I would suggest you meet with them one on one,” I said. That way, if they want to give you more examples, they can, since it’s more of a private setting. And, since your scores in some critical areas like trust and support were pretty low, you don’t want them ganging up on you in a team meeting.”
“Okay. It won’t be easy, but I’m willing to do this. I can’t believe my team thinks I am this ineffective. I need to change this right away. And I’ll start tomorrow,” said John. “Great!” I said. “If, in any of those meetings, something comes up that you need help with, call me. That’s what I’m here for. And, remember, John, the ONE THING that will get you in trouble is thinking that this is about you. It’s all about THEM, not you. There is no use in having a leader who cannot be a resource to his people. Good luck and I’ll talk to you in a couple of weeks.”
Stay tuned for John’s continued journey in next month’s article.
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Lorraine Grubbs is the president of Lessons in Loyalty. You can contact Lorraine by phone at 281-813-0305, by email at [email protected], or visit her website at www.lessonsinloyalty.com.
