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In a recent one on one with my boss, he lamented that the number one issue he has with many of my directs is their lack of resourcefulness.  With me, it was my not holding the team members accountable for this desired trait.  He further stated that in order for me to prove my effectiveness in this area that I do one or both of the following:

  1. Change his perception of this view
  2. Change the performance of my team members as it applies to resourcefulness

Any thoughts or ideas on this one?  Are there any podcasts out there to specifically address this?

As a bonus, the boss noted that at least one of my team members lacks sufficient assertiveness.  I have the same questions on this as well.

 

Thanks in advance!

BeManager's picture

Here are two that you might find interesting.  I believe there are some podcasts that talk about giving the question back to the direct and having them try whatever idea they came up with, but I can't find those specific podcasts.  

https://www.manager-tools.com/2010/12/my-boss-finds-fault-with-me-Part-1

https://www.manager-tools.com/2011/01/my-boss-finds-fault-with-me-part-2

angelicdoctor's picture

Thank you!  I will check those out!

tlhausmann's picture
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https://www.manager-tools.com/2006/12/develop-a-sense-of-urgency-in-your...

If it is not one of the hall of fame casts (HOF) I would consider it a contender.

angelicdoctor's picture

This podcast episode was an excellent resource that I have begun using both at work with my direct reports and at home with my older children especially.  I have seen some good results thus far.

LarrySantos's picture

In many organizations, technical skills and job experience will help a leader be successful to a certain point. As leaders continue to move up to higher role levels, they often discover that IQ and technical ability will only take them so far. Being skilled in building and maintaining relationships with others will have a significant impact on success at senior manager and executive role levels.

lebkin's picture

Changing his perception of your team is likely the more critical of the two options he gave you. It does not matter if you are more resourceful and he doesn't see or acknowledge it. If you get better performance and don't show that you are also more resourceful, I can see him responding with "You'd get even better performance if your directs were more resourceful." 

Did your boss give you examples of how he would like to see resourcefulness in action? You want your efforts to address what he wants to see, because resourcefulness can be hard to quantify. Often good resourcefulness is not visible - a direct is solving the issue without input and thus it does not rise to the surface.