Help manage away bad habits

Talented, hard-working employees are the heart of any organization. But what do you do when stellar performers in the organization display destructive behavior patterns?

Now everyone has their own quirks, and we all learn to work productively in spite of them. However, there are some highly competent people who are held back by fatal personality flaws. The habits can result in consistent problematic behavior, according to the Harvard Business Review article, “Managing away bad habits”.

The authors of the article uses the term “bad habits” not to describe compulsions like nail biting or smoking. The term “bad habits” is shorthand way to describe deep-rooted psychological flaws. At best, people with these “bad habits” create their own glass ceiling, which limit their contributions to the company. At the very worst, these people sabotage their own careers.

If it the situation seems hopeless – it’s not. There are effective ways to help people recognize and correct the bad habits. Managers that help employees break through their own personal glass ceiling provide the ultimate win-win scenario for both the individual and the organization.

If you are a manager, here are six behavior patterns to look out for in employees:

The Hero
The hero always pushes himself or herself – and subordinates – too hard to do too much for too long.

The MeritocratBelieves the best ideas can and will be determined objectively and ignores the politics inherent in most situations.

The BulldozerRuns over others in a quest for power.

The Pessimist
Always worries about what could go wrong rather than considering how things could improve.

The Rebel
Automatically fights against authority and convention.

The Home Run HitterTries to do too much too soon – in other words, swings for the fences before learning to hit singles.

As a manager, what can you do?

· Learn how to empower others to contribute at higher levels by providing special assignments, constructive feedback, and targeted development opportunities.

· Make a list of the key strengths and limitations of your colleagues and each person on the team. Find ways to utilize the strengths and to build understanding.

· Ensure that your teams have defined their purpose, goals, and vision. To be a team, team members must share their goals, and their work needs to be interdependent.

If you want to read the entire article, you can purchase it on the TBC site.

It may take plenty of time and energy on your part, but when a member of the team reaches his or her potential, both the person and the organization will benefit.

Behaviors vs. Traits

By Caroline Fox

One of the valuable aspects of our surveys is that we measure behaviors and not traits. In 360 surveys, some providers confuse the two. The difference, however, is what makes the difference between an effective and ineffective 360 Feedback. What is the difference, you may ask? Let us explain.

According to Dictionary.com, behaviors and traits are defined as the following:

Behavior:
1. the manner of conducting oneself
2. anything that an organism does involving action and response to stimulation

Traits:
1. a distinguishing characteristic or quality, esp. of one's personal nature: bad traits of character.
2. A genetically determined characteristic or condition. Traits may be physical, such as hair color or leaf shape, or they may be behavioral, such as nesting in birds and burrowing in rodents. Traits typically result from the combined action of several genes, although some traits are expressed by a single gene.

The difference between a behavior and a trait is simple: a behavior can be changed; a trait is essentially impossible to change. For example, you may react to certain situations with anger or violence—but that is a learned behavior and can be changed. You are born with certain color eyes; even if you wear colored contacts, your eyes are still naturally the same color as they were when you were born. This is a trait.

We make sure our surveys are validated to measure applicable behaviors that will be coachable. There would be no need for an organization to take the time and money to measure a trait when change is unlikely or impossible. An individual trying to change a trait will become frustrated and may quit working toward their goals. But an individual working to change a behavior? With hard work, a good coach, and the necessary tools, the individual can be successful at changing their behavior for the better—for good.

This butterfly’s traits make it very colorful, but also taste extremely bad to predators.

This child’s angry outbursts and temper tantrums are examples of behavior that needs to be changed.