“I wish there was someone to guide me, about how to deal
with this...”
These words were spoken by Sachin R. Tendulkar the great Indian
cricketing legend to the reporters in Bangladesh this year after achieving his
100th 100. It is hard to believe that Sachin wanted someone to guide him during
the period when he came so close but was so far in reaching the 100 century
milestone. Young cricketers and captains for years have lauded Sachin’s
influence in grooming players so how come Sachin needed to be guided?
Even odd is the fact that people like Sachin are surrounded by the best in the business. Post the event one can assume that none were able to meet his needs; or may be none asked what was he going through-everyone assumed that people like Sachin are capable to sort out their own challenges.
Strange but true...
Similar
incidents occur at work place throughout the world. The fact is that no matter
how experienced or accomplished an individual is he or she has a need/desire to
be guided. As a matter of fact the more accomplished an individual is the
greater is the need for guidance.High-performers are constantly striving for
the next level. In the journey of never ending improvement they stumble and
fall like ordinary people-reason being they try harder than the ordinary and
the average.
Naively managers are unable to gauge the needs of the high-performers
and in the absence of that understanding they tend to leave the high-performers
alone. As soon as this happens it is the beginning of the end of the
relationship.
The best way to understand the needs of a high-performer is by asking his definition of success and how he would rank his results on that scale. These individuals have high levels of self-awareness and know quite well their strengths, weaknesses and potential.
Development
coaching is a good way for having this conversation. It is always done in a
one-to-one format. Keep in mind that people only open up when they have a
trusting relationship with the other person. It is imperative to spend time to
build that relationship.
Several things can be discussed during such meetings for example:
thanking the individual for his contribution to the team; asking them to rate
their performance; how they plan to meet their own standards; career
aspiration; need to mentor and coach others; how you can help them or just be a
sounding board etc.
Periodic sessions which cover the above points contribute to building self-image and esteem of the individual and simultaneously are a catalyst in having a mutually rewarding relationship.
If high
performers are left alone their performance deteriorates over a period of time
and in the process they end up having counter-productive influence on the team.
So don’t avoid but engage as the room for improvement is the biggest room in
the world...it is more empty than full.
