How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others at Work

What to do? Read to find out more.

Here is a ‪very good read on comparing yourself to others (and their successes).

Comparison is the thief of job & saboteur of success. Remember to swim in your own lane.

Why? Because worrying about what others are doing won’t help you and will demotivate you.

It also puts you in a scarcity mindset and you tend to look at the world in terms of a finite set of resources (ie someone has to win and someone has to lose).

What can you do? Here are two specific things.

  1. Acknowledge that other people have a different skills than you or that they have knowledge that could benefit you. A 2018 study published in Computers in Human Behavior found that people who think, “This person has a view on an issue that I’m dealing with,” enjoy better mental health than those who think, “This person is better able to achieve the task than I am.”
  2. The next time you’re tempted to think someone else is better than you, reframe the way you’re thinking about the situation. Ask yourself these questions:
  • What information does that person have that could be helpful to me?
  • What I can learn from this individual?
  • What knowledge, ideas, or areas of expertise does this individual have that could be valuable to me?

Rather than judge people, stay curious. Look for opportunities to learn and you’ll start to see that other people aren’t necessarily better or worse than you–they’re just different.“


Speaking at PRSA Dallas Unsummit Conference

Had a great time speaking at PRSA Dallas 3rd Annual Unsummit Conference on Friday. Spoke about how to breakdown the silos between PR & Marketing, along with how to build great teamwork. 

If you want a copy of the slides, contact me.

How to Have Stellar 1:1 Check-ins With Employees

There is a TON of research that shows if a manager checks-in once a week with their employees their performance typically will significantly improve over bi-weekly or less. It makes complete sense when you think about it.

Why? Here are seven reasons why weekly check-ins with employees matter.

  1. Show you care
  2. Help them stay on track and prioritize what’s most important
  3. Help them remove obstacles and roadblocks
  4. Provide feedback and support
  5. Challenge their thought processes and help them see better strategies, solutions, and tactics.
  6. Results from performance reviews won’t be a surprise
  7. Increase employee retention because 75% of employee quit because of poor managers and 90% of employees state their relationship is a top factor to stay at their company (and with their performance).

But this it depends on how the manager engages with their employees and the questions they ask. Weekly check-ins alone don’t ensure success.

So the next question that naturally arises is: What should a manager ask?

Here are four questions that you can go through in 10 minutes or less. It will ensure priority alignment and maximizes the chances for success that week.

  1. What are your top three priorities for the week (and why)?
  2. What’s going well with them?
  3. What are your challenges? Where are you stuck?
  4. What specifically can I do to help you?

Here are six additional questions managers can also use incorporate with their employees.

1) “What’s the best use of our time today?”

Or “What’s top of mind for you right now?”

2) “What does your ideal outcome(s) look like for the week?”

3) “What do you think is the best course of action for each priority?”

4) “Are you unclear about anything?”

5) “Do you have enough/right resources?”

6) “What was the most useful part of our conversation today?”

10 Workplace Conflict Resolution Best Practices

Here’s an article I contributed to on workplace conflict resolution. Help companies with workplace conflict resolution is becoming a bigger part of my business.

It only makes sense. Teams in conflict hurt not only their performance but cause a ripple effect in a company and with everyone they touch.

I’ve developed a completely new process that flips the workplace conflict resolution process. It takes me 50% less time than other companies who do this. How do I know? Many times, I’m not the first company they have brought in.

Here’s a snippet:

Be willing to apologize. Each party will have their own share in creating, fostering, or engaging in the conflict. “Most people don’t apologize during workplace conflicts. That hurts the relationship and things never get resolved,” says Jason Treu, author of Social Wealth and host of the Executive Breakthroughs Podcast. Just remember that “I’m sorry you’re upset” is not an apology.”

Rethink Your Performance Reviews

A major shift in companies for performance reviews is that TEAMWORK is often more important than individual contribution. This makes sense because individual performance reviews are very backward. None of us can function alone. Every person is dependent on others. It’s the way we work with others both within and outside the company that defines our career success. It makes zero sense if you help others make their quota or hit their KPIs, and then get a poor performance review if you don’t hit yours? 

Research shows that organizations that include team, project, group, department or organizational objectives in their performance reviews significantly outperform those that only focus on individuals.

In today’s interconnected work world, we have to incent, promote and reward people for their teamwork, collective/enterprise-wide problem-solving, and willingness to take the time to help others. If not, it breeds siloed thinking and behaviors, which doesn’t help anyone.

The whole performance review process needs to be turned on its head. This one reason.

5 Talent Development Challenges for HR in 2019

Here are “5 Talent Development Challenges for HR in 2019.”

I rank creating a high impact culture & upskilling employees in teamwork, communications & listening are areas 90% companies fall short as #1 and #2.

What do you think? What’s at the top of your list?

Article via @SumTotalSystems #TalentDevelopment #FutureOfWork #HR #shrm #career > hrmfv.co/34yo

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