Helping a Direct Report Move from Good to Great

I was initially disappointed when I received my Best Self feedback during the Leading for Total Engagement programme. I realised that I'd hoped that people would tell me that I was good at the things that I would like to be good at and instead they all told me that I was good at the things that I'm actually good at!

Following the programme, I decided that I should focus on playing more to my strengths and as a result I looked to reallocate some of the work that I'd previously been doing. Luckily there is someone in my team who is very talented in the areas that are gaps for me, so I decided to move that part of my work across to them. The result has been that they have thrived and I've been more effective as I've focused my time and energy on the things that I'm really good at. I also believe that this has had an impact on the overall effectiveness of my team and the impact that we are having on the business.

In the recent rounds of APR's I rated the individual a 1 (the highest rating) which is only the second time since I've been with the company that I've done this. I don't believe in giving 1 ratings away – they have to be earned. It's important to say that I don't believe the person would ever have achieved this rating if I hadn't re-allocated the work in this way.

Questions to Consider:

In what ways am I preventing my team members from getting 1 ratings?

Does my job allow me to leverage my strengths?

If I'm not excelling do I need to find something that I enjoy doing and that helps me to play to my strengths?