What to Do with the Personality Hire
Summary
- Many people succeed at work by just being likable, but they might not be effective in delivering results.
- To change such behavior, shift the focus from reinforcing their likability to reinforcing their achievements and results.
- We often reinforce likability by giving more attention, talking frequently, and entertaining their ideas.
- Instead, provide reinforcement when they accomplish tasks or drive results.
- Over time, this shift will encourage them to focus more on results rather than just trying to be liked.
- It’s not about choosing between likability and effectiveness; it's about balancing both to work with pleasant and productive people.
Video
How To Take Action
I would suggest implementing a strategy that focuses on rewarding results rather than just likability. Many people in the workplace may be well-liked but don't necessarily contribute effectively to team goals. Here's how to make that shift cost-effectively:
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Shift Attention: Pay more attention to the results and achievements of your team members. When someone completes a task well, acknowledge it immediately. This simple act can motivate them to focus on delivering more results.
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Recognition Programs: Develop a recognition system that highlights accomplishments. This doesn't need to be expensive. A monthly shout-out in meetings, a bulletin board for achievements, or even a simple "thank you" note can make a difference.
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Effective Meetings: During meetings, focus discussions on outcomes and progress. By steering conversations towards what has been achieved and what needs to be done, you'll naturally promote a results-oriented environment.
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Feedback: When providing feedback, balance praise for being a pleasant team member with specific commendation for their effective work. This encourages them to maintain their likability while driving results.
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Role Modeling: Demonstrate the importance of results by sharing your own achievements and how they benefited the team or business. Leading by example is a powerful motivator.
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Encourage Goal Setting: Help your team members set clear, measurable goals. Periodically review these goals and celebrate achievements, helping them understand the direct impact of their work.
By focusing on these low-cost, high-value actions, you can create an environment where likability and effectiveness coexist. This approach ensures that your team is not only pleasant to work with but also highly productive.
Full Transcript
there's a lot of people that join the workforce who get by by just being likable right we all probably know somebody it's like you have someone on the team they're just like super likable everyone loves them but like low execution not very effective right so the whole team likes them but they don't actually produce results for the team so in order to change this person's Behavior what you would need to do is extinguish the factors that reinforce the likeness and increase reinforcers that drive results you reinforce their likeability by giving them more attention than others on the team talking to them more frequently entertain their ideas and then you also don't reinforce when they get something done what we want to do is we want to take all the energy that you give to reinforcing them being likable and we want to switch it over to reinforcing any little thing they do that drives results and what you'll see is that over time they will shift their behavior from doing all the things just to be liked to doing all the things that drive results not saying you want all one or the other I think it's you want to work with people who are Pleasant
