Training staff is a key role that managers play. It’s a lever to increase productivity, retention and longer term helps to attract talent based on your reputation. It’s difficult to do well and a common stumbling block for new managers. This is part 1 of 2 posts which are a mixture of my approach to personal growth and my techniques for helping others to grow.
A model for personal growth
I have a simple model for thinking about my own personal growth.
Growth starts with when I find an opportunity or challenge which is new or scary (or it finds me) and I commit. Immediately I’m uncomfortable. This is hard. Stress surfaces, the kind of stress which makes me lean in and work harder. I stumble and fail and try again until eventually I start to grow. Over time I get better and better until I master it, becoming proficient to the point where it’s no longer new or scary and boredom or normality sets in. The loop repeats.
I identified this model right at the peak of stress, I was uncomfortable. I’d just started a new GM/VP role at Xero. I’d had roles at this level before, but was very far out of my comfort zone and was painfully stumbling and failing. Over a couple of years I worked through the challenges supported by amazing colleagues, my manager, mentors, friends and family. During this period I reflected on this model, certain that there was a problem. “Why do I live like this?” I asked myself one morning. Every day on the way to work I passed a church with a sign outside it which on that morning gave me the answer. The sign says “there is no growth without change”. Change is hard, but change you must. I enjoy reading and hearing the stories of people who have achieved excellence. A common theme in them is that growth is difficult, sometimes painful and always hard work.
The nice thing about this model is that it applies in the large and the small. It takes years to move through the phases for big growth like starting a new job. With learning a single skill it can take only hours or days. It turns out this is a helpful way to think about how you can help others grow too.
Why help others grow?
Helping others grow comes naturally to some folks. They default to working to help people even when they don’t benefit in return. Adam Grant refers to this as the ‘giver’ reciprocity style in his book give and take. If this isn’t you, it's worth helping people grow as a manager as it’s also good business. Employees who are growing are more engaged, will do more and perform better. In my experience this is amplified across a population. When some folks are growing and start talking about it this encourages others to do the same. This is similar to the compounding negative effect of under performers.
Does your company mandate that you have career development conversations yearly? You should do this, but it’s not enough or the most effective approach. These conversations seem high stakes, often because they are. They are connected to performance and salary reviews. They take a lot of time to prepare for and often miss the mark. Having regular, frequent little conversations makes these annual conversations much easier and provides many more opportunities for employees to self-direct their growth. Spend time with your people discussing their growth outside of whatever the bare minimum expectation is. Ask them open-ended questions about their desires and motivations. Talk about their goals. Understand their personal context outside of work. Give them small pieces of feedback when you observe opportunities or successes.
Based on where a person is at in the model, the ways in which you might be able to help in these small conversations will differ. Someone who is in need of a new challenge might need help identifying options. They might benefit from feedback from you or others to identify growth areas. Or they might know what the next thing is and need sponsorship for an opportunity. Someone who is in the midst of a new challenge might need knowledge, training or mentorship. Or they might simply need encouragement or some other kind of support.
I hope this simple model helps you when thinking about the growth of others or yourself. In the next post I’ll talk about methods for growth and helping others.