Quint's Column: Self-awareness, clarity and development


  • January 2, 2019
  • /   Quint Studer
  • /   quint-studer
EntreCon crowd
The new year is upon us. For each company, it is a time to reflect on what went well, what can be done better, and to get excited about the prospect of a great 2019. And yet for many companies, the finish of the year can be challenging. Depending on the type of company, many are either finishing a very busy last few weeks or maybe shutting down for a time.  

Retail businesses have a very busy end of the year. The final weeks can be very hard on employees. They are working more hours than normal, have more customers than usual, and still have their own responsibilities as they shop for those close to them, attend school programs, get ready for guests, or prepare for traveling themselves. While there is great joy in the holiday season, there are also those times that some just wish the season was over.

There are also those organizations that, due to the nature of their work, either shut down or come close to it during the last week of the calendar year. There are those companies that know so many people they work with will be off that last week that they close down also. When I was with Studer Group, we had everyone take the last week of the year off for this reason.  

So as the new year starts off, most companies are either dealing with some very tired employees or with employees who have been off work for a while. I know when I have been off work for a while, it takes a bit of time to get back in the swing of things. In either situation, there are some consistent actions company leadership can take to make sure the new year gets off to a great start. 

The three areas leaders can focus on are self-awareness, clarity and development. When I was interviewed for a business podcast by Scott Becker with Becker Media, he asked me to identify the keys to success for a leader. These three areas—self-awareness, clarity, and development—were my answer. Here are some suggestions for each one. 

Self-awareness means the ability of a leader to objectively acknowledge their company’s performance. It is good to start the year out with a communication to the organization on the past year’s achievements and opportunities. Many times, a company will have accomplished more than they realize—especially with those last few weeks being top of mind. As you send out the list of achievements, also outline those areas in which you may have fallen short. 

We will use the next two categories to build on the successes and address those opportunities. Done well, this will help the team feel good and be more confident that the opportunities can be addressed and the new year’s goals can be achieved.

Clarity, has been and continues to be my biggest area of learning over the past several years. I attended a conference and heard Dan Heath speak. At the time, “Switch,” the book he wrote with his brother Chip, had just come out. During the presentation, it was shown that 80 percent of failure to achieve the desired goal comes down to lack of clarity. Since then, as I review times when execution was less than expected, a real constant is that even though another person or I may have thought there was clarity, to the person who had to deliver, there was not. 

Kristen Hadeed, founder of Student Maid — a company that employs students — spoke at EntreCon this year. She described watching a worker clean a bathroom. She shared that this college student was struggling and then it hit her: He had no idea how to clean a bathroom to the outcome her customer wanted. Something she had believed was obvious to everyone simply was not. She had to create a training system to make sure the cleaning would live up to what her company promised. So, clarity means determining the expected outcome, how it is measured, and the steps to get there. 

All of this leads to development. Leaders and team members are aware of the current situation and the very specific desired outcome. I believe, for the most part, people want to achieve goals. So, the key is to provide the skill training to do so. While companies can fall short in each of the three areas, my experience is the lack of skill development for employees is the biggest miss. 

One can’t just assume a person has the skills to be successful. In healthcare, the three-step approach to development is see one, do one, teach one. Don’t just see an action once but see and do it enough to become skilled. The teaching part is important in driving a skill into one’s DNA.  By teaching someone else, the teacher becomes better themselves. So, when someone says they got it, or they understand, ask them to demonstrate.

As this year wraps up, I’d like to say thank you to the many of you who have posted these columns on social media, retweeted them, sent them to others, and implemented the suggestions in your workplace and/or home. 

Thank you also for your kind emails as well as your questions.  I learn from you. We are all on the same team in being useful to others. 
Here’s to a great new year ahead as we progress on the journey together.

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