Page 49 - Twenty Four Lessons for Mastering Your New Role

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and avoid everyone else. Ignoring loafers or below-average workers
allows them to burrow into your unit. They’ll become increasingly
difficult to dislodge if you leave them alone.
Chip away at their unacceptable performance by setting incre-
mental goals and cheering their efforts to improve. Reinforce what
they do right by praising them. If they lapse into mediocrity, inter-
vene and remind them of your high expectations.
Some workers will resist your entreaties. The more you demand
excellence, the more they’ll gripe. Don’t dignify their complaining
by nodding or looking sympathetic. Instead, sever eye contact as
soon as they bellyache. This teaches workers that in order to earn
your full attention, they must cut the complaints and commit to
improving their performance.
To propel poor and mediocre workers to greatness:
Champion their strengths even if they don’t: Emphasize what work-
ers do right. Talk up their assets and make them realize how much
more they can contribute by harnessing their full potential.
Challenge them to improve in increments: You can’t turn slugs into
stars overnight. Set short-term goals that require slightly more effort
and effectiveness. With each incremental gain, you lift workers onto
a higher level.

Enlist peers as mentors: Put your most driven, talented perform-
ers alongside your also-rans. Weak employees often respond well
when they’re influenced by more successful, supportive co-workers.

“We found the most exciting environments, that treated
people very well, are also tough as a nail. There is no
bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo ... excellent companies pro-
vide two things simultaneously: tough environments and
very supportive environments.”
—Tom Peters

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