When I start a blog, I don’t go back and check to see if I’ve written about a topic before. As I started this one, I felt like maybe I had, but did not want to influence my brain, my today thoughts, with those from yesterday.
This year, I decided to be very intentional about getting the right people in the right seats. We are an EOS/Traction shop and as we developed our accountability charts it became very clear to me that I needed to go first. I had been playing the role of Visionary and Integrator and I am much more ‘V’ than ‘I’. How can I expect our people to be open to analyzing where they are the right fit if I am not willing to lead the charge? As I fully embraced my role, I had to give up some responsibilities and let go of some things I enjoyed because I was not (at all) great at them.
I wanted some sort of way to determine where people tended to be great and not-so-much and picked a tool called Culture Index (CI). Like Myers-Briggs or DISC, the results indicate who the detail-oriented (pas moi) are among us and who loves the limelight (bring it on). The results help us have conversation with people about who has natural leadership skills and who is most likely to need more information than average to make a decision. We don’t view the results as absolutes; we view them as conversation-starters and ways to focus on Key Performance Indicators that might be a breeze for person A and a struggle for person B.
Like the no fun part of getting on a scale – looking at the number – CI exposes the areas that will be most difficult for us. But…and it’s Girl Scout cookie season and I had three delicious Samoas with breakfast today, so I’m thinking about weight analogies….but, CI also shows you where you will shine. Where, if you are willing to look at yourself fully, you will be most natural and happy and capable.
What I have found most fascinating has been the people who resist the concept that they might have areas of weakness or that people on their teams might not be in the right seats. What’s even more fun to me is that their profiles predicted exactly that: this person will be unable or unwilling to accept their weaknesses or own mistakes. And, as it turned out, their responses were “uh-uh, this profile does not describe me”.
Not everyone wants to accept that they are flawed. For me, embracing all of me is a full hug, not one of those awkward half ones that feels icky. Letting my team know that I know I, too, am complex, flawed – great at some things and really bad at others – I hope will give them to strength to take a more comprehensive look at themselves so that they can focus on their natural strengths even when it means letting go of things they are doing that others will do better.
– Becky Sharpe, President & CEO
