I had a one-on-one meeting with a team member at work today; She hasn't been performing well, by her own admission and the results I look at weekly, and I decided to talk with her about it to discover why. She is normally a pretty good operator, not a high-flier, but certainly a strong mid-pack performer who I've relied heavily upon in the past.
The meeting went well; We identified a few things that could be causing the blockages and a few strategies she could apply to help turn things around. In fact, I would go as far as saying she left with a few concepts that, with some effort, could see her exceeding past performances.
I was pleased with the meeting and she went away feeling a little more in control; She'd arrived fearful of her job actually, knowing that my high-performing team doesn't carry dead-weight.
I won't go into the details but it seems she had begun to associate with some people, met through a mutual friend, who were influencing her quite negatively. She opened up about it to me and stated how her attitude and overall feeling of well-being had declined in the last two or three months. She felt this decline in attitude was the major factor in her decline in work rate, efficiency and attention to detail. She wanted to turn that around.
The young lady had already taken the first step in limiting her contact with these people and after our meeting today she decided it is time to end the association altogether; It's a brave move as it may mean the loss of the primary friend however she came to the conclusion that should that happen she was not a true friend in the first place. A mature thought for one so young.
The people one associates with, spends time with and permits into one's life as an influencer, has a direct correlation to one's attitude and behaviour. It is often the case that a person will sink to the base-level of attitude and behaviour that exists in a group, rather than the other group members rising to that of a lone individual of higher standards; Not always, granted, but most often. An eagle who hangs around on the ground with the turkeys is unlikely to reach its full potential.
I recall, many years ago, a mentor/influencer of mine challenging me with that analogy. He said, would you rather soar with the eagles, or stay on the ground with the turkeys? I think he'd said in response to a comment I'd made about certain friends of mine having issues with my career taking off whilst their own wallowed around the average to mediocre level.
Of course, they didn't work as hard as I did and didn't focus on continual improvement of skills, knowledge, mindset and attitude like I did...And they were trying to hold me down, cut me down almost, because of their own lack of effort and results. So, I decided to soar with the eagles, adjusted who I surrounded myself with and soared. Those friends...Fell away far below me and were lost in time.
"Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First we make our choices. Then our choices make us." - Anne Frank
Todays meeting, the mini-epiphany my team member had about her own life, reminded me of the turkey/eagle question my mentor asked me all those years ago, and of the above quote by Anne Frank.
"Our choices make us". Such a great little line.
Every day we make choices; Some don't impact us much at all however others have a huge impact upon our lives. I was really enthused to see the choice my team member came to; She reached it herself by thinking it through and taking ownership for herself and her attitude.
This meeting was the highlight of my day, and I wanted to share a little of it. I'm looking forward to seeing how she progresses over the next few weeks and months and I have a strong suspicion she'll do great!
What do you think hivers? Turkeys or eagles? What's better?
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209
Image by me, taken at Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand.