SHORT
DEFINITION FOR INITIATIVE:
Looking for and acting on ways to improve myself, my results and the results of my team
Looking for and acting on ways to improve myself, my results and the results of my team
- I get right to work without needing to be told where or when to start
- I regularly put in the extra thought and effort it takes to do my job well
- I notice and do what needs to be done
- I dress professionally (advancement, look the part!)
- I look for ways to improve results on the job
- I reach out for help in improving my skills
- I take advantage of tools and trainings to improve my skills
- I am working with a store MOD and/or Employee Development to learn more so I can advance
ARTICLE: The Behaviors
that define A-Players
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The Behaviors that Define A-Players
by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman
Harvard Business Review
Individual contributors sometimes ask
themselves, “What will it take for others to recognize my potential?”
They may simply want acknowledgement of the
importance of the work they do. Or they may aspire to move into management. In
some cases, they’ve been told that they’re doing fine and have been advised,
“Just keep doing what you are doing.”
They may simply want acknowledgement of the
importance of the work they do. Or they may aspire to move into management. In
some cases, they’ve been told that they’re doing fine and have been advised,
“Just keep doing what you are doing.”
Yet they see others being promoted ahead of
them.
The first thing that struck us was the dramatic
difference in productivity, as the graph below makes vividly clear. Which
leadership skills distinguished the best from the merely good? Here they are,
ranked in order of which made the most difference.
Exceptional individual contributors:
Set stretch
goals and adopt high standards for themselves. This was the single most powerful differentiator. The best
individual contributors set — and met — stretch goals that went beyond what
others thought were possible. They also encouraged others to achieve
exceptional results. And yet when we asked raters to select the four skills
they thought were most important for an individual contributor to have, less
than one in 10 chose high goals. It appears that setting stretch goals, since
it’s not necessarily expected, is a behavior that separates top performers from
average.
The less effective individual contributors are
excellent “sandbaggers,” having concluded that the biggest consequence of
producing great work and doing it quickly is more work. They fear their
managers will keep piling on tasks until they reach a point where they can’t
accomplish all that’s assigned. That’s a problem for them, surely — but also
for organizations that don’t want to penalize valuable people for making extra
effort.
Work
collaboratively. When we asked
people in the survey to tell us what they thought were the most important attributes
for any individual contributor, they responded first with “the ability to solve
problems” and second with “the possession of technical or professional
expertise.” So it’s probably not surprising that these fundamental characteristics
were shared by average and exceptional contributors alike. Third on the list,
though, was “the ability to work collaboratively and foster teamwork.” And this
trait did distinguish the great from the merely
competent.
Many individual contributors strive to work
independently. Some believe that if they remain solo performers, their contributions
will be more likely to be noticed. They may be thinking of some educational
experience where they stood out because their effort was acknowledged with high
grades and test scores. If so, they fail to see that the main purpose of an
organization is to create more value by working together than everyone can
produce by working outside the company on their own.
Volunteer to
represent the group. The best
individual contributors were highly effective at representing their groups to other
departments or units within the organization. If you want to stand out, have
the courage to raise your hand and offer to take on the extra work of
representing your group. In this way you will gain recognition, networking opportunities,
and valuable learning experiences.
Embrace
change, rather than resisting It. One
of our clients describes her organization as having a “frozen middle” filled
with people who resist and fear change. Change is difficult for everyone, but
is necessary for organizational survival. The best individual contributors are
quick to embrace change in both tactics and strategy.
Take
initiative. Often individual contributors, by
the very nature of their role in the organization, slip into a pattern of waiting
to be told what to do. Great contributors develop a habit of volunteering their
unique perspective and providing a helping hand. Think for a moment about the
projects or programs going on in your own company. Which of them have your
fingerprints all over them? Initiative requires more than doing your current
job well.
Walk the talk. It’s easy for some people to casually agree
to do something and then let it slip their minds. Most people would say that
this is mere forgetfulness. We disagree. We believe it is dishonest behavior.
If you commit to doing something, barring some event truly beyond your control,
you should follow through. The best individual contributors re careful not to
say one thing and do another. They are excellent role models for others. This
is the competency for which the collective group of 4,158 individuals we
studied received highest scores. That means, essentially, that following
through on commitments is table stakes. But exceptional individual contributors
go far beyond the others in their scrupulous practice of always doing what they
say they will do.
Use good
judgment. When in doubt about a technical
issue or the practicality of a proposed decision, the very best individual
contributors research it carefully rather than relying on their expertise to
just wing it. Making decisions takes up a relatively small portion of the day
for this group, but the consequences of the decisions they do make can be enormous.
Outstanding contributors are open to a wide range of solutions and careful to
consider what, and who, will be affected if something goes wrong.
Display
personal resilience. No one is
always right. Everyone suffers disappointments, failures, and disruptions. If they
make a mistake, the best individual contributors acknowledge it quickly and
move on. They don’t brood on other people’s mistakes. They ignore slights and
hurtful comments. They realize that what undermines your reputation is not making
mistakes but failing to own up to and learn from them.
Give honest
feedback. We tend to think of feedback as a
manager’s responsibility. And it is. Since this is not a formal role or usual
expectation of individual contributors, it’s one of the behaviors that can make
them stand out. Even done imperfectly, feedback from peers can be valuable
because it’s so rare. If done with kind intent, demonstrations of how you might
approach some task, gently raising questions a coworker may not have
considered, or perhaps pointing out some specific things a colleague did that
was particularly helpful to you or somewhat distracting, can be highly prized.
The best individual contributors were able to
provide feedback in a way that was perceived not as criticism but as a gesture
of good will.
If you want to
stand out from the pack, excelling at any of these nine behaviors can make a
substantial impact on the way others perceive you. So we recommend selecting the one or two that
might matter most to your effectiveness in your current assignment to work on
improving. In making your selection, consider asking your manager and peers for
feedback on how effective you are in all of these areas. Not only will they
give you additional insight, but sharing your plans to improve will increase
the likelihood that you will follow through.
What’s more, if managers know of your improvement
goals they may find development assignments that will help. If you are a
manager with individual contributors reporting to you, consider periodic
coaching to encourage them to adopt more of the behaviors that will help them
stand out from the crowd. It will strengthen their careers and will also help
them to benefit your organization even more than they already do.
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