The Art of Performance Review Discussions: 3 Must Haves in your Leadership Training Program

So, you'd like your leaders and managers do better performance review discussions with their staff?

You've decided that perhaps, a mere pep talk on how to conduct One-on-One meetings won't do!

In case you're thinking of organizing a formal training program, that sounds like a big step indeed.

Have you got your curriculum whetted and sorted out? Before you send out the request to the training department let's make sure we've got the i's dotted and t's crossed!

Let's look at three key skills/competencies that can help your leaders do pretty well and get best value from their performance management discussions. Ensure that your training program includes rich learning experiences that do justice to these concepts and themes.

Animated, Inspiring Conversations about the future

Add in a Module on making inspiring yet grounded conversations. This is a vital ingredient.

It's not just the STAR performers. Even that big chunk of "B performers" in your teams want to feel a genuine sense of pride. Pride and belief in themselves, and what they can do and accomplish. Most of us want to to keep this belief alive. And we feel so relieved when our circumstances and environment help us do that.

Not a vacuous sense of hope. But one that's backed by opportunities to bring out a better version of ourselves. We want to believe that given the right opportunities, we will be able to validate ourselves with our unique strengths, capabilities and skills.

How well do your leaders tap into this hope across their teams? Are they able to have conversations that acknowledge and awaken this hope? And, then go further to get the folks inspired about opportunities and possibilities, and thereby embrace change? Can they articulate it with the right energy and enthusiasm? People want to see, hear and 'feel' the connection to the larger goals of the organization.

Snazzy powerpoint slides may not achieve what a sincere ten-minutes conversation can. Where the leader excitedly helps them “personally walk through” to the future goals of the team, the department and the organization.  The key point to be noted: They must “see themselves” in this journey, and get the connection clear.   

It helps them understand what it takes to move towards these outcomes, as an individual. The skills, behaviors, attributes, qualities, knowledge and understanding that will make it possible. It's of course not possible to join all the dots. But an overall sense of direction can spur them on to go ahead and make it happen.

This is not about converting all your leaders into perfectly suave “dream-merchants”. Introverts, extroverts, big picture folks, the doers, the dreamers, the detail-driven perfectionazis...Your leaders fall into all these categories and more! They can all inspire their teams with sincere, well pitched, meticulously prepared and thoroughly articulated messages.

Help your leaders develop and nurture this skill. To be able to make such conversations in a structured manner. You’ll be amazed at the kind of alignment and buy-in they'll secure. Train them to learn this craft of animated and inspiring conversations. And to apply it without coming across as contrived. Those dots are indeed worth connecting!

Generating Authentic and Accurate Self-Insight

This module is the perhaps the toughest and most critical one in your training program. So, pay good attention and make notes!

Of course, performance discussions can't be all about the excitement waiting in store in future! You have to dispassionately talk about past performance. Deriving the right lessons from the past is critical.

This is typically where things can go out of control.

There's conflict avoidance and over-sanitized talk at one extreme. At the other end, it doesn't take too long for a few words and expressions to spark combative encounters! Not the best way to generate self-insight in the individual. With injured pride and a baggage of defensiveness, reflection is the last thing on their minds!

Your course curriculum must train your leaders in the art of making conversations that lead to reflection and self-awareness. To get people to examine facts, nuance and the context, minus filters and inadvertent (or even deliberate) distortion.

Special emphasis must be made to avoid language traps: overused and inappropriate expressions, misplaced exclamations, gestures, hooks that trigger those "touch-me-not" responses, provocative frowns, dismissive smirks, pejorative words... It isn't that tough to go downhill with "unclean" language! 

As you might have guessed it, a leader who is lacking in self-awareness can't hope to get any big breakthrough with his/her team. Performance discussions have a power asymmetry built into it. How to transcend that barrier? "Know-it-all-seen-it-all" folks won't have a clue!

Notes for Curriculum Design: Make sure your curriculum deals with this theme with sufficient depth and sensitivity. Some of your leaders may have lived with these traits for a lifetime. Without any awareness at all! Will your training course help them take a new direction?

Doing a performance review that generate "actionable" self-insight is an art. The one question you want people to keep asking themselves repeatedly is "What more will take me there?" And the last word in this question ("there") is the key to the future. With the right resources, tools, knowledge and support, many goals are within reach. Self-insight is most useful when we get these "Aha/Wow" moments. "Oh Yes, this is what I need to learn; this is the help I need; this is the challenge that's likely to trip me again...." You really want conversations that allow people to think aloud, and connect these pointers. Without being held back by resistance, self-pity or aggression.

Your curriculum must help leaders work out an approach that helps them stay in charge and avoid dysfunctional patterns.

Functional Empathy!

Note: This module is of a high-investment nature with potential for high returns! Find out what more can be done for even better yields!

“Well, we've heard about empathy and why it is essential to feel what others are feeling etc... In a professional setting like a One-One discussion, all this touchy-feely stuff can be intimidating to some!

Especially those who have trained themselves to "leave them emotions at the entrance gate". Your training course needs to first tackle these derisive and disparaging attitudes towards empathy, and then help leaders create a personalized "GPS Direction Finder”.

This direction finder will help them set the right pace and tempo to predict, acknowledge and address some of the strong emotions people experience in these discussions.

What is triggering that fear about a certain change? What concerns are they leaving unarticulated? What is the confusion they aren't acknowledging? What’s making them clam up? What weakness are they shying away from? What lies beneath this pretense of confidence? What is the anger they're suppressing?

It is important for the leader to spot these signals and decode them quickly. A large part of this information needs to be picked up from non-verbal signals and by reading between the lines.

Relax! The idea is not to start a psychological therapy session! But to pick up the signals, and then assuage some of these concerns in a resourceful manner. Use the signals to ask questions that lead to enlightening exchange of views and authentic awareness for both parties. With this level of understanding, the discussion gets transformed totally.

The trust that it generates is worth its weight in pure gold! Trust that the leader is not merely looking at "utilizing resources", but going several steps further to help people realize their potential. That's how you get performance  that isn't employment-centric, but employability-oriented and far beyond that, actually.

Getting people to set audacious goals, raise their risk appetite and go all out to attain them will seem like a natural progression. Several of your "B performers" have that benign "killer instinct". Help your leaders ignite that spark in their people.

Examine your curriculum and look for learning experiences that help leaders understand people and their unarticulated messaging better. You can call your modules  "Empathy" or "Social Intelligence" or whatever. Don't bother about terminology. The meaty part is the "understanding" thing.”

Moving Beyond Role Plays and Simulations

Talking about the learning experience, you want these skills to take deep root.

You want leaders to not just get the best out of these discussions, but to also come across as sincere. Of course, your training needs to have the right kind of case studies, group discussions, role plays and simulations. What more can you do?

Discreet 360 degree feedback might be a good idea, as a post training check, if you can afford the time. The idea is to eventually have them apply these conversational styles in day-to-day work situations. Not only in formal performance review discussions.

A personalized cheat sheet with key learning insights, plus some practical tips and tricks may also be a great idea. Ensure that there is a robust mechanism to keep the post training learning experience enriched and on-track.

Raring for a Fight? 3 things for combat readiness!

Instead of resolving conflicts, what if you actually wanted to perpetuate them? Maybe, it suits your agenda to keep fights alive with folks you don't particularly like. You’re hoping to tire them out. Or get them so freaked out that they forget to think clearly. You’re not the one to shy away from fights. In fact, once in a while you love to draw in energy from strife and squabble. Perhaps it suits you to keep things simmering so that your opposition is confused, often miscalculates, and makes enough mistakes to keep going round in circles. Well, there could be many solid reasons to stir the pot and make merry! Although it may seem otherwise, the good news is it doesn't take much effort actually. In fact there are quite a few time-tested strategies that you can rely on.

Alright, maybe you really aren't wired in your brain this way. You’d rather keep your peace of mind and enjoy it too. You might still want take a look at these strategies, though. After all, there are many folks out there who are indeed wired in this manner. At times on purpose, and often unwittingly they do everything it takes to keep conflicts go on and on. For those on the receiving end though, this is as close to hell as it can ever get. It helps to be adept to spot these strategies before it is too late.

Let’s look at three in particular.

The Injured Victim Act:

Convincing yourself that you’ve been unfairly victimized by someone is a high returns strategy that works well most of the time. It pits you, the simple and straightforward victim agains the evil aggressor. The stuff that many conflict dramas are made of. After all, with a demonic tormentor snapping at your heels, what can you possibly do?

Never mind… there were enough options for you to walk out of the unfavorable situation. Of course, some of those options came with some pain. Small details like your own contribution to the mess don't matter. Don't worry, there’s no need to go full-on with lies either. Somehow connect unrelated events, situations, facts and half-truths. Tell everyone you meet how you were unfairly pushed around. How you were forced to make compromises. Your personal responsibility to address the situation is at best a forgotten footnote. Your helplessness against the unmatched evil nature of your opposition is a perfect narrative. It helps you avoid constructive action. The pot keeps boiling over, just as you wanted it! You’re entitled to your victimhood after all. And you must “fight back” and secure your territory.

Come Hell or High Water, Obstinately ‘defend’ these!

Our values, beliefs and assumptions drive so many of our decisions in life, big and small. Career choices, eating preferences, relationships, entertainment options… There’s hardly any area in life that isn't impacted by them. It is natural that we’d want to defend our values and beliefs whenever there’s a threat perception.

And, therein lies a great opportunity to go overboard, and attract more strife. Again, this is pretty straightforward. Pretend to be outraged and aghast over perceived threats to your values and beliefs, howsoever trivial the issue. Just allow your imagination to run riot. Take minor issues or disagreements and completely blow them out of proportion. Start hyperventilating whenever you can, as though your very existence is being threatened. Accuse others of being dismissive and insensitive to you and your beliefs. Don't stop at that. Portray them as offensive aggressors who are going after you. Talk to anyone who’d listen. Exaggerate at every step, and paint your opposition as thoroughly mean and unscrupulous to the core.

Offense is a good tactic, so that you can ignore any uncomfortable evidence that may expose your claims. The idea is to create so much din and cacophony that reasoned discussions just aren't happening. Don't allow others to question the validity of your assumptions. You maybe driven by vanity and ego, but don't look the part. Feign outrage whenever you can. Blend facts and fiction nicely, so that more people agree you’ve got every right to defend yourself. After all, you're raring for a fight. 

Defensive it is!

There’s something called constructive conflict, and then there’s all the other kinds too. Getting people to operate out of strong defensive and negative emotional states is a brilliant recipe for the latter. 

After all, you’re looking for recurring discord! You must engineer dysfunctional behavior in others. As often as you can. You can make a start by channeling your own fears, insecurities, hatred, anger, doubts, grief, and frustration. Invoke as many of them as possible. Feel those feelings fully.

And this is how you’ll do it…Don’t pay much attention to what’s going right. The other person may have done good deeds. Keep ignoring those, and instead focus on all their faults. Keep observing every lapse with a microscope. Use rigid and even absurd standards to “assess” and “rate” them. Attribute malevolent motives to every misstep, omission and aberration. Stay economical with facts. Make illogical inferences and incorrect conclusions. That’s how you’ll muddy the waters. Even if you know you’re exaggerating, don't bother. Make copious mental notes, and store every bit of “evidence” of their wrongdoing in your own database. You’ll need all this data to portray them as not just mean, but also quite imperfect.

Now’s the time for the killer move! Confuse them, and other onlookers with some good ol’ chicanery. Make public displays of goodwill towards them once in a while. Play the part of the magnanimous compulsive do-gooder. You’ll get to keep your brownie points. Turn off the switch soon, and again do things that’ll make them defensive. Push their hot buttons and engineer their auto-reponses. Words or actions of the on-the-spur-of-the-moment kind will do. You want them to make a spectacle of themselves. A few blunders is all you want really.

Provoke and do everything possible, (without batting an eyelid) so that they attack you first. You’re too smart not to let go of the golden opportunity. Just fire all of your guns at once!

Desperate for a change, they may even try engaging in some constructive conflict resolution. Once in a while you can play along, just for the right publicity. But again provoke them. And keep shouting to everyone “I told you do so”.

So, as you can see, it isn't that difficult to sustain a state of friction. You can mess up your own peace of mind and that of others.

Even if you aren't like this, spend some time to reflect on these points. Observe those who indulge in such behaviour. Understanding these behavioral patterns will help you identify options to change the narrative to one that’s more empowering and uplifting.

Write down three things you’ll do differently to change the narrative!

Open Sesame: Exploding the Barriers to a Culture of Openness

We all have our belief systems, values, priorities, and preferences in our lives. Some of these are part of our core being, though we may not even realize the extent to which we’re influenced by them. They can bring people together and also create divides.

So, it can be challenging if these divergences are allowed to run riot and cause havoc in inter-personal interactions in organizations. An environment that values diversity of thought has many benefits after all. It can trigger a healthy irreverence for the status quo. It questions ideas that ought to be challenged. And that’s possibly good for your decision making process too.  How can you make this diversity work to your advantage?

Think about differences in working styles, strategies, policies and approaches to decision making. These can trigger disagreements, and even intense ill-will sometimes. Scratch beneath the surface, and you’ll see how values and beliefs play a big role here. 

For example, let’s look at what happens during a business downturn. Not all departments and companies react in the same manner. Some might want to ‘wait it out’ even as they ‘optimize’ operations with job rotation, pay reduction and other operational efficiency drives. Others might go directly for the bitter pill, downsize the team and hand out pink slips. They believe that the sooner you get rid of the ‘flab’ the better. Ideas that are as different as chalk and cheese.

When value systems collide, the impacts may not be limited to the particular individuals. If allowed to escalate, the atmosphere gets vitiated. 

Heartburn, frayed nerves, disharmony and dysfunctional behavioral patterns can only weigh you down. Deadly enough for a company or team hoping to bounce back or sustain a positive momentum. You’d rather have motivated people doing everything it takes, and staying focused when things get tough.

As a leader, it is vital that you recognize and work with these differences, and also allow space for multiple views to co-exist respectfully. If you allow the drift to persist for too long, it can irretrievably damage the culture of openness that takes so long to create, even in the best of times. The trouble is that sustaining such a culture can be very tough as the issues involved can be too unsettling for many. What happens when you sense a visceral threat to your core values? Some of your most protective and territorial instincts are unleashed. Getting a sense of perspective and proportion will be vital for sanity to prevail!

In this article, we’ll examine three barriers to a culture of openness, and pointers to how we can work around them.  

1. Opaque Decision Making
2. Obeisance to the “Maximum Leader” 
3. Your Insecurity & their Passive Resistance

Opaque Decision Making:

One area that needs major attention is the process of Decision Making in your team and organization. Not just in the case of unpopular and unpleasant decisions. The question is relevant to the ‘ordinary’ decisions too, when certain patterns become too repetitive and entrenched. So, take a break and observe how decisions are arrived at.

What is the process by which decisions are taken? Do people genuinely believe that they’ve got a fair hearing, and often enough? Are decisions rammed through with a charade of consensus? Are key people hiding behind processes and red-tape to avoid difficult conversations? Is there a tendency to cursorily skim through intractable issues? Do people feel that ‘uncomfortable questions’ get stonewalled far too often?

Front-Ending the ‘Tough’ Decisions:

The leader must be seen as owning the good and the bad of decisions, especially ones that can have wide ramifications. A visible ‘front-ending’ by the leader is called for, especially in tough times. Not via emails and broadcast messages or videos.

Walking around the office, and talking with people may sound too simplistic. Maybe that’s why it gets overlooked often! Having well-defined communication protocols is necessary, but not sufficient. Stand up, roll back your shoulders, expand your chest, walk around and convey the decision in simple words. Talk about its impacts, both good and bad. You need to be seen as accessible, and willing to even take some of the criticism, gracefully.

Yeah, take it on the chin with a cool composure. Everyone is watching you. Not every leader gets tested like this too often. And of course not all of them manage to come out with flying colors that often either! Opaque decision making has taken down many ‘celebrated’ champions (leaders and companies too)! It takes some work to buck that trend. Looking at it as an opportunity can be a good start.

Keep your Red-Lines too:

Of course, it may not be possible or even desirable to consult everyone always. You should be able to assert yourself, especially when your scope for maneuver is limited. Keep your red lines intact of course. You don’t want to get hijacked by contentious agendas pulling you in all directions.

You're signaling a willingness to engage, and being open about information that you can share. People are turned off only when they see processes being used as a smokescreen. Most of us are capable of understanding the intention pretty well based on the ‘messaging’ and ‘delivery’. You cant teach them how to do that. They’re already smart enough to ‘get it’!

And what’s the most important tool you can use? Just Listen! Yes, nothing matters more than that when you’re in it for the long haul. Ignoring some of these ‘simple’ points can leave a very bad aftertaste that will come back to haunt the organization sooner than you thought! 

Because, it is in times like these that your resolve to maintain a thriving culture of openness gets tested.

Obeisance to the “Maximum Leader” 

Your leadership style has a direct impact on the level of openness that you get in your team/organization.

Leaders with high levels of self awareness know this pretty well. Others will keep wondering… “How come folks here don't have the gall for risk taking?”, “Why do we wait till things reach crisis point, Why aren't these red flagged early enough?”, “How is it that we get to hear these complaints only from our customers, what’s really going on?”… 

Is it the ‘culture’ thing?

Hold on, let’s not label it so fast!

Well, maybe, just maybe, no one really wants to come across as the baddie out here! Because, directly or (often) indirectly, candor has been discouraged, or even dis-incentivized. The messengers are perhaps getting shot for carrying the bad news. No one wants to spill the beans.

Concurrence and compliance have got top billing status for far too long. You might have created a super-sanitized, almost stifling environment where people pleasing has become the norm, just because that’s a ‘safe’ option. There’s a desperation to show everything is in order, and that all’s well, exactly as the “Leader” decreed!….. After all, the leader knows what’s in the best interests for the team, the leader knows what needs to happen and what cannot be allowed…

This ‘tough’ and ‘caring’ leader is the fount of eternal wisdom, so why look anywhere else! Even if you’d started off with your heart in the right place, a near-paternalistic leadership style can damage the culture in your team.

People become overly dependent on a command-and-control style. They’re always looking over their shoulders and waiting for the nudge and signs of approval from the “Maximum leader”. Sometimes, they’re expected to stay eternally grateful to the leader for his/her benevolence in getting things sorted for them. You know, they’re these poor little souls who needed to be redeemed. 

So, what can be done? Change can’t happen overnight.

Installing a Spirit of Inquiry:

But, you could start by encouraging people to find answers and resources that take them closer to outcomes. Not by looking for readymade answers, but rather by framing the right questions. You can help of course by resisting the urge to tell them “how”.

Instead, focus on giving them access to resources that improve the quality of thinking in the team. An “open source model” of thinking with the right checks and balances is what you could consider installing. Thinking that is more outcome focused. Where assumptions are verified, challenged and even criticized. Criticism that seeks out alternatives and options to start moving from where you are. Not the criticism that endlessly cries over ‘what could have been’ and ‘what didn’t happen’. Thinking that leads to ‘actionable’ insights is more like it. 

Insights which help people to identify real dependencies and bottlenecks. Support them of course with more questions! And effective brainstorming practices can help too.

You may know the answers, but help them figure their way to get there. Or even get one up on you!

There are benefits when the maximum leader recedes to the background, at least a little more often! A culture of openness being one of them. Because people realize things wont move otherwise.

Your Insecurity & their Passive Resistance

Passive resistance to change can post significant threats to a culture of openness.

Where does this passive resistance originate from? It is usually driven by intense emotions like anger, jealousy, fear and anxieties that aren't articulated well. A stifling environment where genuine concerns are swept under the carpet erodes enthusiasm.

Take fear of failure for instance. Or even the fear of being damned for making mistakes. Not getting due credit, appreciation and recognition can also turn off people internally. With diminishing motivation, they’re happy to just go through the motions. Passive resistance can’t be fixed by showering praise or even handing out gift coupons. It may look like it’s working for some time. But then, that’s how passive resistance works, isn't it?!

But are we looking at the right place?

What if the problem is actually with the leader? It isn't unusual to find leaders mortified of getting upstaged by smart folks in their team. This insecurity breeds information hoarding, favoritism and subterfuge of various hues. The leader wants to hog the limelight, and doesn't mind being a control freak, unwilling to let go of power and authority.

Denying visibility about issues and information is a tool that is too easy to deploy. The insecure manager decides to ration information coming from senior leadership teams and even customers. Information will be shared on “need” basis, they claim. People get dis-empowered when they aren't sure what’s really going on in the organization.

Over a period of time, the effects are highly corrosive. Sometimes, lesser capable individuals are promoted, just so that leaders can surround themselves with servile people who can’t threaten their position.

Of course, not many leaders would want to admit to such behaviour. Also, the urge for self-preservation isn’t the real problem. So, if you are that rare specimen who is okay to detect and recognize such insecurity in yourself, albeit on a smaller scale, great! Instead of feeling bad about it, let’s look at the   situation with a different pair of glasses.

How about looking at the big opportunities that’ll present themselves when you have a more empowered and confident team? One that’s willing to play ball for the real big high stakes game? Where people aren't stuck in self-doubt, but are eager to take on bigger challenges, to learn and adapt to tough situations. And also stay resilient while facing difficult situations. No amount of preaching or pep-talk or powerpoint presentations can achieve what an empowered team can do. When you look at the culture that’s in vogue right now, what do you think? Is your team ready for the offensive to move beyond self-preservation and territorial behaviour, and go after audacious goals?

Conflicting agendas, priorities, interests and narratives aren't uncommon in any organization. Why, you’ll see it happen even in families. It’s in the nature of people to safeguard their territory. We all do it! So stop beating yourself up. We can do it differently.

Let People Gravitate towards you & that Vision Thing

You can seize the narrative with a positive and constructive agenda that makes people gravitate towards you. As a leader, people are looking at you to define a compelling vision. A picture that excites them from deep within. It may not be easy, but won’t be that hard either.

Because, the key point is to connect their aspirations to the shared goals, beneficial outcomes, and vision that you’re outlining. You might need to even expand the scope of the work assignments in your team to accommodate those aspirations. Some creativity is definitely called for. So make sure you take it as a challenge! See it as a chance to present a larger pie of opportunities and ‘spoils’ for people who’ll stick with you. You bet! It is so easy to hide behind policies and processes and pretend helplessness. That will only make the insecurity muck hit the fan.

You can read more about how to do this in my article series on Engaged Execution.

Two points that I’ll specially emphasize:

Conveying Trust:

How do you get people on board, and keep them motivated?Well, that needs a trusting environment. A trusting environment cannot be sustained with a perceived lack of sincerity, especially when there’s a wide gap between what is said and how it is said. People can sense the genuineness behind words. Ensure there is congruence between your body language, gestures, expressions and the words articulated. Most of us are adept at recognizing fake praise and homilies from a distance. Somehow, we have those in-built smart sensors that are reasonably good at alerting us.

Brevity & Focus helps too!

Crisp communication is what we are talking about here. You know, where relevant information and data are shared, clarity about assumptions exists, well-substantiated inferences are made, and there’s a willingness to examine multiple sides, dimensions and aspects of issues. This will help you avoid getting pigeonholed into pre-determined predictable patterns, based on “how things are done here”. That one shift is like a kick on the rear end of insecurity! 

Well, handling difficult conversations is an art in itself. Read more about it in this article of mine, where I present a model called “SPEAK WISE”. You’ll get some more ideas there!

So, as you can see, it takes a lot of work to create a culture of openness. Some of these changes will be difficult. It can’t be that easy to step out of one’s comfort zone. You’ve got to keep your own motivation levels high to be able to stick with this change. Defining powerful outcomes and exciting opportunities will certainly help. Taking yourself a little less seriously can make it a tad bit easier too. We’re talking openness here, after all!

Type B Razor Sharp Focus: Pass around the Winning Habit!

As a Leader, what are you doing to keep your folks focused, motivated and excited to succeed individually and as a team?

Frameworks, processes, structures and "best practices" of various hues come and go. But cracking the motivation puzzle can be challenging even in the best of times. You want your people to go all out and pursue the shared goals of your team or organization. What exactly is that "elusive" holy grail of motivation, especially in a collaborative environment? You want people to not just achieve individual goals and targets. You want them to support each other in winning too, right? 

What would be that key ingredient that'll make it happen?

If I were asked to pick one such ingredient, my vote goes to what I call the Type B Razor Sharp Focus. Let me define this Type B focus right away!

A sense of accomplishment and the pride that goes with it drives most individuals in their lives. Many of us like to do and complete things that give us this experience of achievement. It needn't be only about big audacious outcomes. How about just ticking off items from a to-do list? The mental satisfaction can be immense. It is a validation of sorts. Of our ability to simply get things done! Nothing more than that. The scale of what gets done comes after that.

Every such result or outcome is powered by well-focused actions. To overcome challenges, and to do what it takes. Let's take a closer look at this focus. I can be totally focused and be driven by a messianic zeal to get what I want. Take this zeal a few notches higher. It can become an all consuming obsession of sorts. One that compels me to give it all I have. A Razor sharp focus, where only the results matter. Only my results matter. As it is all about me and my single-minded pursuit of my success.

I'd categorize this Razor Sharp Focus as Type A. Where it is all about the individual and the outcome. So many of our finest achievements in history are driven by this Type A Razor Sharp Focus. You'll see it in some of the success stories in the world of business, academia, sports, entertainment, politics, and several other fields.

Now, let's look at another kind of success. I am of course entitled to my own success. But while I pursue this outcome, I am also actively supporting others like me to succeed. Somehow, I am convinced that when others succeed with me, I can actually start winning more often. In fact, the quantum of success may also become bigger for everyone in the process. For this to happen, I can't be only obsessed about my win. I now need to keep an eye on others around me too! Because the stakes are much higher now. The opportunities are also bigger!

This needs a different kind of focus. It needs Razor Sharp Focus, for sure. Of Type B, and not what we saw above alone.

Are you a Leader who wishes to pursue radically transformative change? If yes, have you got enough supply of this vital factor of production? The Type B Razor Sharp Focus? How can you procure more of it? And maintain a healthy inventory level too?

Let’s look at three important aspects to make this happen.

Eschew The Blind Spots & work with Shared Interests:

It is possible that we may unwittingly overlook the advantages of collaboration. This happens when we aren't fully conscious of the potential rewards and outcomes. Distractions of different kinds can skew our perspective. We may rush to make hasty conclusions in our minds about what is possible and what isn’t…

Why does this happen? Sometimes, we unconsciously tend to mix facts along with impressions, assumptions and interpretations. We may omit and edit out some of the facts and data. This happens when we’re driven by an agenda to match what we see with what we want to see! We may project our map of reality into the actual territory!

Let’s assume you’re working on a joint assignment with a colleague. You may conclude that it is not worthy enough for you to join forces with your colleague for anything beyond what is just essential. This conclusion is often based on incomplete information and the blind spots that tend to develop over time.

An open mindset can help you avoid some of these costly mistakes. This needs some focused work. You could start by first listing out the essential facts. Examine the associated assumptions, interpretations and impressions. These are usually driving your thinking patterns.

Engage with the Discomfort!

So, it helps to observe your thoughts and associated emotions. Start connecting the dots and become aware of the impacts of such a limited view of reality. Become aware of what you’re likely to gain if these limiting patterns are replaced by a more open system of thoughts and actions. Which of the assumptions can be kept aside? If some of your thoughts are making you uncomfortable, take that as an important signal or alert. You might want to do something about it. What actions, support or additional information will take you to a more positive frame of mind and make you feel reassured? Once these actions are secured, does it make sense to explore collaboration so that you can reap more benefits?

Become the Role Model!

As a Leader, you need to support the key members of your team to practice this  and train themselves to unlock the benefits of collaboration. But not by ignoring genuine concerns and warning signs. Instead, you are identifying specific approaches and steps that can minimize or even nullify the dangers that exist. By nudging everyone consciously back to collaboration, as a group, you are able to access more choices and possibilities.

Managing Runaway Emotions

Emotional wellbeing is critical so that you can leverage your Type B Razor Sharp focus. All your key team members need to develop this skill. Several “seasoned” players in organizations assume that emotions are bad and need to be kept away from the workplace. Nothing can be more damaging than such unhealthy maxims and edicts.

In the previous section we spoke about observing thoughts and associated emotions. It is important to use this as a signaling system, and move towards better outcomes.

At real-time you are getting mentally and emotionally impacted by others: Their patterns of behaviour, their actions, their thoughts, ideas. These are leaving imprints at an emotional level. Develop an awareness of the specific triggers and behavioral patterns (of others) that make you angry, afraid, uncomfortable, embarrassed, guilty, or even confused. By not acknowledging this, you may end up projecting your frustrations on others.

The Climate Change!

As a Leader, you will need to develop a climate of open communication. A safe space for people to articulate their concerns and worries in a mature manner. This is not to say that you should encourage your staff to cry and holler in public! Rather, the idea is to have a mature approach to take purposive action by working with emotional intelligence.

You can yourself demonstrate some of these skills of self awareness and self regulation. Formulate ways of working and protocols to allow for these underlying issues to get expressed in a constructive and outcome oriented manner. People will slowly open up and get into a practice of moving towards solutions. This again will allow for the right kind of focus to emerge across your team and floor!

The alternative is to keep pretending things are okay and allow frustrations, fears and seething rage to get bottled up inside. And there is a hefty price tag too, if people choose the latter option! Genuine issues get hidden, but not for long. It doesn't take long for the inevitable descent into a dysfunctional culture. Passive resistance, unwholesome politicking and even hit jobs can corrode your team’s collective energies and potential in no time! Can it get worse? Yes it does! The good and capable employees may flee, and you’ll be stuck with rotten apples that vitiate the atmosphere further!

Feed Forward vs. Intimidating Feedback

Type B Razor Sharp Focus requires you and your team to embrace a spirit and culture of continuous improvement. The ability to observe, reflect and introspect is an absolute must for such a culture to take root. It is important to keep a close watch on key performance indicators of your significant workflows and processes. People need to have a “feel” for it. And it also requires a culture of open communication.

Bad news must be picked up early enough so that you can take corrective actions as a team. Maybe, this sounds logically kosher. But, in practice it calls for open sharing and acknowledging of feedback and suggestions for improvements. How can you make sure that the feedback is taken on board in the right spirit? What if some of your folks get intimidated by the candor that you want in the process? What can be done to keep the Type B Razor Sharp Focus intact?

A few thoughts and queries that you can keep coming back to:

• Use a feed forward approach while exchanging feedback.
• If something wasn't done well, what learning can be taken on-board for the future?
• What will be done differently?
• How can the result or outcome get secured, in spite of what happened in the past?
• Are people trying to “fix” weaknesses or leverage their strengths?
• What would need to happen if you want more of the latter?
• Is there a need to change the outcome itself?
• Where possible, how can you include people in the formulation of outcomes, expectations, goals and results?
• What can be done to increase the quality of the buy-in?
• It may also be a good idea to draw certain red lines for behaviour.
• That hint of a disparaging tone, the hidden signs of trust-deficit, molten hot anger, and an overwhelming lack of empathy… How can you move out of such a paradigm and stay focused on the best outcomes?
• What red lines can you define?

We know that given a conducive and enabling environment, many among us are able to deploy our finest strengths and capabilities. Creating and jointly nurturing such an environment is the way to go!

Just imagine what can happen if more of our relationships get transformed with greater understanding. Don't you think many hidden possibilities and opportunities may get unlocked? Perhaps there will be lesser strife and discord. Stress levels can also come down. You and others can focus better on things that matter the most. 

Focus that is derived in this order: 1) Better Mutual Understanding >> 2) Actions Driven by this Higher Order Understanding >> 3) Better Quality Interactions  >> 4) Reduced Stress >> 5) Razor Sharp Focus & Co-creation of Superior Value

Get more of it!