People Are Doing the Best They Can

In this excerpt from the upcoming The Shift from Me to Team, we revisit the desire in all of us to do the best we can. A timely reminder, as many of us strive to fulfill new year’s resolutions! What personal or professional goals have you set for 2023?

#leadership #team #PeakPerformance #CoreIdentity #teamdevelopment #ShiftFromMeToTeam #purpose

We ask leadership teams to assess to what degree they feel others are doing the best they can. Then we ask them to assess to what degree they feel they themselves are doing the best they can. Then we ask: Why is there a difference between others and you?

Aren’t we all doing the best we can with what we have? We have yet to meet the team member who says, “Let me see how poorly I can perform today,” let alone, “I want to see how average I can be.” In trying to be the best we can, we are insecure, wishing we were more competent to address our challenges. We all need to accept we do not have all the answers and stop pretending we do.

Each of us is born with unique talents, and then we gain specialized competencies and knowledge on our journey. Effective leaders demonstrate their caring for each team member by respecting that each is doing the best they can with what they have been given, along with their experiences on their life’s journey. The leader has the responsibility for and plays a key role in the life journey each team member is on.

Leaders are responsible for supporting the team member in closing their Peak Performance gap. Do they have the tools to do their job, or was there a hiring mistake? Could they better fit in another job? It is not the employee’s fault for a poor job fit. Leadership is responsible for hiring the right people and then closing the Peak Performance gaps with proper orientation, coaching, training, and resources for team members to do their best work. It is through adding the team members’ perspectives to those of the leader’s that the organization realizes Peak Performance.

By respecting that team members are doing the best they can from their perspectives, the leader plays a vital role when they acknowledge contributions. When we feel good about our contribution, we are motivated to do even more to become better. We feel good about ourselves and are gratified to be appreciated for our contribution, even if there are gaps we are working on.