June 2, 2004
A Great Lesson from American Idol |
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I
am sure most of you are familiar with the television hit, American
Idol , where aspiring young singers compete for the prize of
a recording contract. Week after week, they prepare and perform,
and like another well know program, Survivor , one person
gets voted off after each show, until a single winner is crowned.
My
ten-year old daughter has become a big fan of Idol and
with only a little coaxing, we have watched the program together,
talked about how well each contestant performed, and tried to guess
who would not make the cut. Because it was television, there were
a few surprises along the way. Some who appeared very talented,
were unexpectedly voted off, while others were able to hang on longer
than they should have, at least according to our assessments! But
that is another story.
The
last two contestants were a couple of young ladies named Fantasia
and Diana. From the very beginning, we expected Fantasia to be around
until the very end. She was already a talented performer, with her
own style and a distinctive edge. More often than not the judges
raved each time she sang. Perhaps in their minds Fantasia was clearly
above everyone else in the program, and they made several references
to her as the likely winner.
Diana
was different. At sixteen, she was not the polished performer. Early
on there were a couple of times when my daughter and I agreed she
would be the next one voted off. The judge's comments to her ranged
from very good to horrible. In their minds, she was inconsistent.
And if I remember correctly, there was an episode or two where she
barely survived. But whether it was from sheer luck, or talent we
did not recognize, she did survive - all the way into the final.
I
observed something very interesting and reaffirming over the course
of the competition. What I saw was a sixteen-year-old girl become
remarkably better over the period of a few short weeks. Through
some pretty pointed feedback, great coaching, and obvious hard work,
Diana dramatically improved. She was enormously better, by almost
any measure, at the end of the competition than she was at the beginning.
My
observations about Diana's growth got me thinking about the workplace.
How many Diana's are out there? Think about your own circumstances.
How many people are there in your organizations that today are inconsistent
and clearly not as skilled or capable as some others - but could
soar to the top, with the right kind of coaching and inspiration?
Do you even know who they are? Do you believe that some who struggle
today might, in fact, be able to become great, or have you already
permanently labeled them as losers?
While
working with one of the country's largest retail grocers, I heard
them share the story of how one of their former presidents started
out as a bagger in a store. I have come across other examples in
a number of companies about executives who began their careers in
a similar fashion. So if I were to ask you which of your entry-level
people might one day be president of your company (or of another
for that matter), how would you respond? Can you even envision the
possibility?
The
journey of young Diana must serve to remind all of us that people
can become better than they are today. They can learn to sharply
hone their skills. They can learn to do entirely new things. They
can accomplish more than they themselves or others ever expect.
But, it is doubtful they can do it alone.
When
you accept the responsibility of a leader, part of your obligation
is to help other people fully develop their capabilities. You have
to be genuinely interested in them. You have to spend time with
them, work with them, give them candid feedback (both positive and
constructive), and work with them some more. You have to teach,
coach and counsel. And then you have to give them continuing opportunities
to show what they can do. If conversations with your people are
mostly about growing numbers and seldom about growing them, you
need to recognize that you are managing a lot more than leading.
Delivering results to grow the bottom line is clearly an indisputable
responsibility of a leader. However, it is not a leader's only responsibility.
If you are unable to also fulfill the responsibility of increasing
your people's capabilities to produce more, you will find they won't
produce more, and the results you will get will be stagnant at best.
Oh,
one final reminder. Don't ignore your great performers just because
they are already great. Fantasia was not left alone, nor did she
sit back and coast. She, too, was offered the advice and counsel
of great coaches, and she worked very hard to take full advantage
of them. Like Diana, she was able to take her game to an entirely
new level.
As
a leader, isn't that what you want for all of your people?
Reflection
Questions:
- How much time do you spend really
thinking about what your people, individually, might be capable
of doing?
- What is the one piece of coaching
that each of your people, individually, would most benefit from?
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