The word that should never exist in a leaders vocabulary
How many times in our careers have we heard someone being called incompetent OR even worse, we’ve personally called someone incompetent either directly or indirectly? We’ve all been there…admit it! In my years of making endless mistakes (and boy have I made a lot of them), I have grown to loathe the word “incompetent”. I mean, I really REALLY despise this word! I know that many will disagree, but I wish the word didn’t even exist. In fact, it should be removed RIGHT out of our vocabulary! Vanished! Get it out of there! Never to be spoken from anyone's mouth again!
Here's the thing: We all make mistakes. It's part of being human and our journey to being the best darn human we can be. We will fail and we will succeed and that's the true magic of life! We’re not incompetent when we fail. We’re not incompetent when we find out there are certain things that we just can’t do. We’re human!
As a leader, you need to understand and live this reality with your people. It is your responsibility to model the way and if any of your people are not completing a task or they're acting in a way that makes them seem incompetent, then it’s time to for you as the leader to look within to understand why. Start by asking yourself these questions:
Has the employee been properly trained on the task at hand?
A common mistake in positions where replacements are needed OR cross training across the organization is necessary (especially with very little notice), is to cut corners with on-boarding. In the end, cutting these corners almost always means much more work and frustration for you and the employee. Ensure that they are trained properly from the very beginning.
Have they been advised of the job expectations?
Assumptions are often made around employees automatically knowing what their job expectations are, including their understanding of said expectations. Don’t ever assume these things. Be open and transparent about what you expect. If you don’t tell, they will never know.
Are they the right person for that job?
One in five employees are in the wrong job (Right Management, 2015). This is shocking, but not surprising. How often do organizations measure employee job satisfaction and job engagement? Is this person best suited somewhere else in the organization? Have they lost their mojo with this specific role? Talk to them…you’ll be surprised at the response.
Have they been given opportunities to ask questions and provide their feedback/thoughts?
Have you made it part of your regular routine to walk around the organization and have conversations with each of your employees? Are you offering opportunities to have open and honest discussions? If an employee is struggling, you shouldn’t be surprised. By having these discussions, you’re not only showing that you are approachable and “real”, but you’re also opening the door for the struggling employee to feel comfortable in talking to you.
In the end, it is your job to nurture, develop and empower capability in your people. You need to understand that not everyone will thrive at each and every task or role and it’s your responsibility to find the best fit for your people, work with them and watch them shine. You also need to understand that everyone has bad days (including you). Mistakes will happen and grace needs to be given. You never know what someone is going through on any given day....it's not incompetence, but truly just being human.