High Performing Business – Discernment – Signs
Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT
What are the signs someone is going to be a good employee, a good leader, or a good project team member?
I’ve had interesting discussions with other business owners over the past several days about the results of increased bigotry in their companies. Some have even gone as far to say as they won’t hire someone who voted for Donald Trump because it shows they are at worst a bigot and at best make poor decisions. This seems a pretty bold statement to express, is not required, and even can amplify what is most feared. People show up as who they are, especially when given adequate chance to display this. This is the reason for trial periods, several stages of interviewing, a process of seeing who someone really is and what they can do, BEFORE giving them more responsibilities in the business, or on a project. It’s easy to put on a good show for an interview, the first several weeks on the job, that initial project – much more difficult to consistently show up as a stand up person other people want to be around if you harbor disdain towards others (whatever the disdain is – Trump, a Trump supporter, the “establishment,” some race, orientation, gender, political preference, etc).
Here are the signs a person will make a solid project team member or employee who will bring out the best of others rather than the worst (no need to find out their political leanings):
- Inclusiveness – how well does this person include others in their day to day world?
- Resiliency – how well does someone bounce back when things have not gone their way? It’s easy to be nice when things are going your way, quite another when things don’t work out how you’d like.
- Equanimity – how well does someone roll with the punches and accept the good with the bad?
- Listening – what type of questions do they ask? How well can the get the gist of another’s concerns?
- Deliberation – how quickly do they make important decisions? Do they take time to find out all sides of an issue before taking any action?
- Alignment – how do they walk their talk with the values they express? If they claim to value family – how do they spend time with their family? If they claim to value freedom of expression, how well do they value ideas counter to their own that others express?
- Kindness – how do they treat people who they don’t need to be nice to for any reason?
- Empathy – do they understand how their words and actions impact other people and take actions appropriate to consider other people’s feelings? (this is not the same as sympathy).
- Encouraging – do they find the good in others and in situations even when the prevailing sentiment is “this is difficult?”
- Respectful – how do they acknowledge others, especially those who have different opinions?
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