Jim supports backstage logistics at his local church. Two out-of-town guest speakers made the weekend setup and coordination more difficult than normal. Jim, however, did not show up. No heads up, either.
To add insult to injury, Jim's backup was in training. During the service there were a couple of glitches creating brief delays in the transitions. It wasn't a disaster but the pastor noticed. Monday's feedback meeting will be uncomfortable.
Every team has a Jim or two. Individuals that play key roles but for various reasons require more attention to manage, direct, encourage, work around, train, watch, monitor.... In other words, high maintenance.
Gallup's research reveals that up to 20% of your team are made up of Jim's. The good news is that close to 30% of your people have their heart and soul into their work and service. They act like stakeholders and go above and beyond their assigned roles. Where do the remaining 50% fall? According to Gallup this group is made up of those who do what they're asked and typically have a good attitude. However, you only have their brain, not their passion.
The bottom line is that you own 70% of those who work for you. Your capacity to grow, improve, or take a deep breath once in a while is directly tied to engaging your 50% and dealing with the 20% who have checked out.
Your high performers have one thing in common: They are tapping into their dominant talents. When they use their dominant talents they become energized, focused and highly engaged. The other 70% either do not know what their dominant talents are or don't know how to apply them in their role. In rare cases the role itself is a terrible match.
What's it like to have this disconnect? Imagine something (or someone) that you avoid because even the thought of them drains you. Imagine having to do this day-in and day-out. Without knowing how to tap into your talents or adapt them to your role, you become drained. Your passion is doused, your brain checks out and, in extreme cases, you might start acting out in negative behavior.
Fortunately, there are several assessment tools that will help you discover your success wiring. Our firm, TAG Consulting, uses the Clifton Strengthsfinder (www.strengthsfinder.com) and CoreClarity (www.coreclarity.net) to help people discover and develop their success wiring. We've seen many people who were “checked-out” discover how to re-engage. We've seen teams go from plodding to peak performers.
You may already have a good idea of your success wiring. Many, however, have never had help in discovering theirs. Once you discover your dominant talents you can begin to develop them into strengths.
Our field research also shows that there is a 5% range of things that you do that no one else can do. It produces a wow factor. We call this your Flow Zone. Then, there is 10% of what you do that you enjoy but you can teach others to do. We call this your Leverage Zone. There is 85% of what you do, however, that someone else can do better. In fact, these activities are a drain. We call this your Distraction Zone.
High performers migrate their time and energy to operate in their Flow and Leverage Zones. High performers are also very good at finding others who enjoy taking the things from their Distraction Zone.
The next time your “Jim” drains your day, explore whether he is tapping into his dominant talents. If not, you have a wonderful opportunity to change his world—and yours, too.
