“See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little.”~Pope John XXIII
We were brought into an organization recently because a manager felt that her team was doing everything “wrong.” She had a long list of their errors – in behavior, in attitude, in outcomes. She very clearly wanted to address all of these with her team, and wanted us to facilitate the process.
We surprised our client when we pushed back. While it is important to bring to light all that is getting in the way of a team’s effectiveness, we advised her that addressing all the issues and attempting to correct all the faults in one fell swoop would only backfire. People are limited in how much feedback they can absorb, especially when it is developmental. They are even more limited in how much they can actually address at one time to bring about change.
When it seems like there are lots of things to “fix” at work or at home, it helps to heed Pope John’s words. Continue to see everything (and by everything, we mean to also see what is working well); overlook many of the little details that, while they may drive you crazy, are probably not that important; and focus on correcting or addressing only the most important issues – the critical points.
You may be surprised how quickly things begin to change for the better.
Broaden your observation and lessen your corrective actions…and see what happens.
Where might you not be seeing everything? Where might you be trying to correct too much?
Click here to leave a comment.
If you enjoyed this post, you can read more like it in our book, The Power of Thoughtful Leadership: 101 Minutes To Being the Leader You Want To Be, available on Amazon.
To learn how to broaden your observations, contact Robyn at rmcleod@chatsworthconsulting.com.
Click here to receive The Thoughtful Leaders™ Blog posts via e-mail and receive a copy of “Ending Leadership Frenzy: 5 Steps to Becoming a More Thoughtful and Effective Leader.”
Photo Credit: Flickr.com
