The Reluctant Contributor - D3

 

The Reluctant Contributor - D3

Continuing forward in the Skill Will Matrix, we'll move to the "Reluctant Contributor” today.
 
We spoke about the "Enthusiastic Beginner" and “Disillusioned Learner” in the last two articles.
 
The Enthusiastic Beginner was an employee at D1 - High Will Low Skill. The ideal confluence of behaviors for an Enthusiastic Beginner is High Directive Low Supportive.

The Disillusioned Learner was an employee at D2 – Low Will Low Skill and the ideal confluence of behaviors is High Directive High Supportive.
 
We saw that the way to develop a Disillusioned Learner is to continue to provide him with clear instructions on his tasks and roles and Monitoring & Feedback as well as to ensure that you build a strong support system around him. 

Ideally he would need to be transitioned to D4 smoothly without letting him move to D3. If he does move to D3, however, it is not as alarming a transition as letting a D1 slip to a D2.

If specific behavior sets are not administered to him though, he is naturally going to move to D3. (if he does not move on or is not sacked) Let us understand how.
If the employee at D2 spends more time in the organization without any of the above two eventualities happening, he is going to obviously learn more about his roles and tasks. This would lead to his skills to move to moderate to above average levels. Still not high though; because most of his learning has been through trail & error and experimentation.
 
Let me remind you once again, that this is if he has a “manager” without an understanding of the behaviors required.

Due to his above average skill-sets his performance is now going to comparatively improve. But there would be a lot of inconsistency. He would be uncertain as to exactly what he is doing right to be able to extract the right kind of actions and behaviors that lead to favorable results. This is primarily due the lack of proper guidance from his superior.
 
This would result in him still having below average will levels due to the fact that rewards and recognition will come to him; however they’ll be as inconsistent as his performance.
 
So if you plot this employee on the matrix... this is where he would be.

His Skill levels are moderate to high; however his Will levels be inconsistent due to the lack of support that he has received resulting in inconsistent performance.
 
Once again, if the manager is a “Leader” with a firm understanding of “Situational Leadership” the employee would never have reached D3. But this would again be a case of ‘inherited employees’
 
Let us understand the confluence of Leadership behaviors that he requires. Since he is above average in his skills sets he does not require instructions on the what, how, where, why, when or constant monitoring. In fact that is going to tick him off immensely. So Directive behaviors to be on Low!
 
Since his Will levels are inconsistent, however he would need higher supportive behaviors. Now, it is interesting and important to note that the kind of supportive behaviors exhibited with a D3 would be different from those given to a D2.

Here’s when you need to start showing value in this employee through “Involvement” and “Engagement”. Involve him in the team’s decision making and problem solving process. Show him the trust you have in his abilities and skills.

 
Also, going back to the Disillusioned Learner is where the D3 may be able to play a very important role, as I had mentioned in my last post. Since his skill-sets are above average, give him a few responsibilities to groom the skill-sets of some of the D2 employees in your team. This is a perfect example of a WIN-WIN-WIN situation, where you impact the will of both D2 & D3.
 
So the ideal confluence of behaviors for a Disillusioned Learner is –
 

Low Directive High Supportive

 

This is also known as the “Supporting” style of Leadership and should be maintained to improve his skill and will levels to attempt to gradually move him into D4 or Peak Performer.
 
The Danger here is that, while you wouldn’t want to sack these employees, they would definitely be looking for other options of employment. So be careful!
 
The loss to the existing Leader is a potential Leader and his “replacement and path for growth”.
 
That’s it for now. Will "suit up" again for the “Peak Performer” soon.
 
Ciao!!

 

Leadership Decoded

Leadership is the ability to influence a group of people into moving towards a common objective in a coherent and cohesive manner

Two important words here.. coherent and cohesive... 

Coherent is connected with clarity.. in the mind of the leader, in the communication that the leader does with the team and in the minds of each team member..

Cohesion is ensuring that similar components of the whole, stay together.. So from a team relevance, it is keeping the team together to move towards a common team goal..

If you go back to school physics, cohesion and adhesion differ slightly.. cohesion is similar components, adhesion is dissimilar components..

Moving on to the second part of the definition of Leadership..

The second part is the enabler... which allows the leader to be able to influence.. The leader influences by using various attributes within him/ her..

Attributes such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge & skills... So strength in all 6 is a requisite..

Belief is something you believe or accept irrespective of whether it is true or false. Beliefs are something that you accept without asking for proof.. like Belief in God, for example..

Principles are universal whereas Values belong to an individual... that which is of worth and importance to every individual is his/her value.

Values are like the regulator of a Fan... They can be moved from a scale of 1 to 5 depending on how much importance you place on a certain thing in your life.. And you behave or act accordingly..

And that's why you can work on and improve your personal value system based on your beliefs and ethics if you find that your regulator has been at a low level in certain situations in your life..

You can consciously work and improve your value system to get them as close to principles as possible..

Ethics is one's own understanding of right or wrong, legally, socially & morally. Though it is not only about the morality of particular courses of action, but it's also about the goodness of individuals and what it means to live a good life.

Character is who you truly are. It is made up of various components. It is a combination of our Values & Value systems, Beliefs, Ethics, Culture, Traditions of the community & society, our upbringing and our set of skills & knowledge.

Knowledge & Skills?

To put it simply... Knowledge is the "What" of a particular topic or subject and Skill is the "How" of it..

One of the biggest sources of knowledge is the environment we live in and the experiences that we have had in our lives from the day we were born... through awareness and understanding..

Skill is simply knowing how to do something..

To be continued...

*Situational Leadership is not just important from the point of view of existing and future leaders, but also for professionals at all levels as it helps you plan and organize your careers and growth based on the development level that you are at and the resources and opportunities you will get in the future!