Page 106 - Make Work Great

Growing Your Crystal

Quick Video: Changing Behavior

Visit www.MakeWorkGreat.com for a short video segment about how
to advise someone regarding a gap in skills or performance. This is
also an easy bit of information to share if you’re trying to describe the
contents of this chapter to a trusted friend or colleague.

Role-modeling is still your best bet. When it comes to infl uencing
your manager, nothing is more powerful than allowing him or her to
see how you do your work and the fact that you’re producing results.
The better you are as an employee, the better you can be as a role
model to those above you in your organization’s hierarchy. The key
is to demonstrate a specifi c type of overtness effectively in a short
amount of time. That way, there’s no sense that you’re talking out of
turn or being disrespectful of anyone’s authority.

Overtness About Purpose if You Are the Employee
At the beginning, you may not feel comfortable asking your manager
to verbalize his or her workplace purpose, but you can use your own
summary outputs list to open each of your interactions: “I just want
to take a few moments to ensure that I’m still focused on the correct
priorities, so here’s how I see my job.” This way, you open the door
for useful conversation and demonstrate your commitment to the job,
all in under two minutes. At the same time, you pave the way for a
future conversation about your manager’s overall workplace purpose,
which may ultimately be an inspiration to develop and share his or
her own summary outputs list.

Overtness About Impact if You Are the Employee
Impact should be one of the easiest things to talk about with your
manager. Whether you’re bringing up a brief synopsis of something
you’ve already accomplished or asking the specifi c value of a new
piece of work you’ve been assigned, be sure to share the credit for the
impact you’re discussing. For example, “I got some feedback from

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