It is cold in Minnesota. We won’t make it above zero today. Minnesotans are a hearty bunch but several days of near zero temperatures are having an impact.
Yesterday I was a few minutes late to a client meeting. I blamed the traffic. I blamed the snow. I blamed the slippery roads. When I left the meeting I was anxious to beat the traffic and get home. I jumped in my car and started driving. I couldn’t see – the darn ice on my windshield. I pulled over and started to scrape my windshield, but there was no ice. What the heck?
Yesterday I was a few minutes late to a client meeting. I blamed the traffic. I blamed the snow. I blamed the slippery roads. When I left the meeting I was anxious to beat the traffic and get home. I jumped in my car and started driving. I couldn’t see – the darn ice on my windshield. I pulled over and started to scrape my windshield, but there was no ice. What the heck?
To my surprise, I had to scrape the ice off from the inside of my windshield. Like most people, I assumed something “out there” must have caused my troubles. It didn’t occur to me that the problem might be within.
I am thinking about this “ice inside” concept as I prepare to lead a retreat next week in Iowa. The staff has doubled in size and is experiencing the typical growing pains associated with growth. Full 360s have been completed for the three leaders and each staff member completed a self- assessment. We used a less formal feedback mechanism to solicit peer feedback. Providing feedback to peers, especially peers you are still getting to know, can be scary. We chose to ask the three questions:
What keys strengths does this person bring to the team?
What developmental opportunities could this person focus on?
What do you most appreciate about this person?
These questions are simple, straightforward and are a relatively “safe” way to give feedback. The appreciation question is often the most surprising and rewarding. Often the quality mentioned has little to do with work skills, but more about how you value the person.
During next week’s retreat we will focus on refining roles and taking a critical eye to organizational structure and programming. We will spend time understanding our talents, aligning those with 2104 goals, as well as examining the ice inside our windshields. I hope it is warmer in Iowa.
I am thinking about this “ice inside” concept as I prepare to lead a retreat next week in Iowa. The staff has doubled in size and is experiencing the typical growing pains associated with growth. Full 360s have been completed for the three leaders and each staff member completed a self- assessment. We used a less formal feedback mechanism to solicit peer feedback. Providing feedback to peers, especially peers you are still getting to know, can be scary. We chose to ask the three questions:
What keys strengths does this person bring to the team?
What developmental opportunities could this person focus on?
What do you most appreciate about this person?
These questions are simple, straightforward and are a relatively “safe” way to give feedback. The appreciation question is often the most surprising and rewarding. Often the quality mentioned has little to do with work skills, but more about how you value the person.
During next week’s retreat we will focus on refining roles and taking a critical eye to organizational structure and programming. We will spend time understanding our talents, aligning those with 2104 goals, as well as examining the ice inside our windshields. I hope it is warmer in Iowa.