Make People Better Not Worse
Summary
- I had two tough conversations with teammates today, but I look forward to them because I know how to make them better through these talks.
- People often avoid difficult conversations because the results of hard work in this area take time to show.
- If you put in extra effort for your team, they will return that effort to you.
- Remembering details like a teammate's kid's birthday, their graduation, or if they felt unwell shows you care.
- I always prioritize the person over the worker, even if that means giving advice that might lead them to leave.
Video
How To Take Action
I would suggest starting with having those important conversations you’ve been avoiding. It might be scary, but focusing on making your teammates better can be really rewarding. A good way of doing this is by preparing beforehand. Think about how you can help them grow through this discussion.
Another great strategy is to remember small personal details about your team. For example, noting down their kid’s birthday or if someone wasn't feeling well last week shows you care about them as people. This can be as simple as setting reminders on your phone or calendar.
I suggest you always think about the person first, not just the worker. This means if someone could better themselves by leaving your team, you should support that. Giving advice that helps them, even if it's not good for you, builds trust and respect.
Putting in the extra effort for your team means they’ll want to reciprocate. Being present and genuinely caring creates a positive environment. This could mean checking in on their well-being or helping them with non-work-related issues.
Lastly, try to stay patient. Results from these actions might take a while to show, but the effort will pay off in the long run. Practice makes perfect, and showing consistent, genuine effort will make a difference over time.
Full Transcript
today I had like two hard conversations with two different teammates and like I genuinely look forward to them because I'm like I know how to have this conversation in a way that will make you better not worse that shit's boring so that's why most people never get good at it is because you just don't see the result of your hard work for a long time if you put discretionary effort towards people then they will give you discretionary effort back being able to remember when somebody's kid's birthday is and that they have their graduation coming up they're moving into this new house in this new neighborhood and they didn't feel good the other day and like all that stuff though it's like small little things I always say like human first I will always prioritize who somebody is as a person above them working for me even if that means that I'm going to have to give them advice that means like they might leave
