It’s crunch time, your team is under pressure. Some are struggling.
What do you do, double down on the work?
The theory – finish the work then you can properly help the team recover.
Or do you take care of the team’s needs first?
The theory – care for the people and the work will take care of itself?
How you approach such stressful situations is not just a strategy. You may attribute how you handle this to your business acumen. However, it is more likely due to your personality.
We all lean one way or the other. Either we are people-focused or task-focused by nature. This depends on our personality.
The Birkman Method assessment reveals which way we lean. It is this difference in point of focus that is at the root of many conflicts.
For those who are people-focused, they rally around the concerns and needs of people. A manager focusing on the work may appear callous and uncaring, whose concern is only for profit! People-focused persons have many reasons why people’s issues should come first.
Naturally, the task-focused person also has many reasons why getting the job done first is the best way to function. If the work fails and the business falters, then all the people will suffer. It’s logical, a profitable company is better for everyone!
No matter where your focus is, your way makes sense. In reality, there are times for both approaches and, there are times when neither is better, rather a balance of people and task focus would be best.
An emotionally intelligent manager knows himself and understands the nature of his team and thus can avoid unnecessary conflict and bad feelings. Accurate self-awareness empowers a manager to be able to make decisions based on reality and not just on the way one’s personality is leaning.
Do you know which way you lean? Don’t guess it or learn the hard way. Take the Birkman assessment and become properly self-aware.
