You know the challenge of inspiring those who work for you to competently complete their work in a timely manner at your company’s standards.
That’s the baseline. What really makes a difference is to develop people so that they willingly move beyond the baseline to achieve more, especially if you need to complete a big project in a short time frame.
Extroverted achievers possess a level of self-motivation to do this with the slightest encouragement. But what about your employees who are less outgoing, in effect, introverted achievers?
If you ignore these people in favor of the extroverts, you’ll miss a pool of talent that is literally waiting for the circumstances to perform. Don’t confuse introversion with reticence.
You want to approach them differently. Begin with a specific, tangible request, and ask them to do it. The key is to ask, not dictate. Asking gives them the opening to step up their game by giving them “space” to consider the circumstances before agreeing.
Asking makes them participants in the process, and gives them a chance to commit after they’ve processed the request. Extroverts, on the other hand, often react first (“yes, I’ll do this”), and process later (“What did I just commit to?”)
The truth is that most people don’t like being told what to do; they liked to be asked. It’s good to keep this in mind especially if you are under the gun and need everyone’s involvement to meet the deadline.
After all, doesn’t it feel good when someone says, “I really need your help to achieve this goal.” You’re demonstrating a little more empathy and the receiver feels a little more important.
Sounds like win-win to me!
Have a great day!
