We all view the world through our own eyes. It is impossible not to. The most effective leaders are those who are able to understand the human differences in their staff’s behaviors and skills and make the most of them. That means being able to understand that their staffs may not always do things the way they would do it (Why can’t they all just be more like me?) Good leaders recognize the value of diverse behaviors and skills and encourage them.

Most executives probably think they do a pretty good job of knowing the skills of their teams and using them effectively. But if that were true, why do we see so many examples where someone with a poor or average performance rating leaves an organization and is highly rated in their new job? It is easy to see examples of this in professional sports when a player is traded and their career takes off under new management and coaching.

The fact is that it takes work to be objective in assessing the skills of others. This is especially true when that skill is something that the leader is not interested in, does not understand or do well, or worse – does not think is valuable. Good leaders step back and look at the business as a total entity made up of employees, customers, and equity owners. Leading the business to outstanding success requires that all 3 elements be well served. Leaders identify the unique skills of their team members and leverage them in the areas where they are needed most. They are able to recognize when someone is making a major contribution to the success of the business even if they do not understand or especially value that person’s skill.

Excellent leaders are very good at recognizing the talents of each team member and putting them in roles that maximize their ability to apply them. There is a double benefit to this approach.

1. The most powerful asset, in this case the persons strength, is applied directly where it is needed most resulting in outstanding productivity and performance.
2. People are happier when they are doing what they like. In that vast majority of cases, the work that makes them the happiest is doing what they are good at. That is often how they got good at it! Putting people in roles that maximize use of their skills increases morale, job satisfaction, and employee retention. And that produces outstanding performance.

So, the best leaders take off the subjective glasses. They recognize that everyone works differently, has different motivations, behaviors, and skills. The do NOT FORCE THEIR OWN STANDARDS on their teams. Instead, they carefully assess each team member and, like assembling a puzzle, find the right fit in the business to maximize their contribution. Oakley Advisors executive coaches work with every single client to show them how to do theses assessments, assemble the puzzle, and lead their organizations to new performance highs.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio