The Behaviors of Growth Part 1

The Behaviors of Growth – Part 1

We’ve talked about the behaviors of growth in previous posts. It’s time to define them.

Before we do that, though, let’s play a game. Take a minute and write down what you think the behaviors of growth are. Once you have written your answers, then keep reading.

Some Assembly Required

Everyone comes to your organization with a basic set of assumptions and beliefs about themselves, their role, work, and the rules of the game in the workplace. These assumptions create the lens through which they see themselves, their leader, their role, the work culture, and success. We described this in the previous chapter as The BAR Formula:

Beliefs drive Actions, and Actions create Results

 Even in the best of situations, the assumptions and beliefs of the people in your organization will not fully align with a Growth Culture. Don’t stress. Most people have experienced working in a Performance Culture not a Growth Culture. This will impact their beliefs and assumptions about work, the actions they take, and the results they achieve. They also may not be familiar with the Rapid Response Team organizational model. Some people will quickly adapt to this new model, but others will take a while because they have worked in either a more traditional team culture or a more authority-based culture.  Whatever their history and experience, stay focused on your job:

Meet them where they are & take them where you need them to be.

Building the behaviors of growth in your team is at the core of your leadership role. These behaviors are essential for 4 reasons. 

1.  Performance matters.
2.  A Growth Culture is a more effective way to achieve performance in a rapidly changing world where the speed of change is accelerating.
3.  You can’t keep power in your hands as the leader and keep up. You must put the power in the hands of your team. It is not an option.
4.  Most people have the ability to develop the behavior of growth, but they haven’t developed them to the level you need. Putting the power in the hands of your team without developing them to use that power with confidence is a form of leadership negligence. It leads to mediocrity not excellence.

With that said, let’s talk about the behaviors of growth.

Three behaviors are the foundation on which growth is built - the ability to see, anticipate, and respond in ways that drive performance and growth.

See

Growth always begins with the ability to clearly see and understand what is happening. Most of us see the world through our biased lens. This bias means that we often see what we want to see or what we are afraid is there, rather than what is actually there. These biases create a filter that can easily cause us to miss something that is critical to the situation. Seeing objectively is the ability to see people and situations clearly and accurately in the context of what is happening. This requires identifying and removing the assumptions, biases, and emotional reactions that cloud our vision. Seeing is the most important of the behaviors of growth because the other two behaviors hinge on your ability to accurately see what is happening in a situation.

Anticipate

Once people see other people and situations clearly, the next behavior to master is Anticipation. Anticipation is the ability to identify and understand the potential actions, reactions, situations, and outcomes that can occur in a given situation. Anticipation is a key element in effective problem-solving. Have you had an experience where someone on your team did not anticipate something that seemed logical to you, and the results were not good? Why didn’t they anticipate the situation, when it was so obvious to you? The most likely reason is they were focused on doing tasks, not creating growth outcomes. Along the way, no one ever taught them how to anticipate potential reactions, situations, and outcomes and respond in ways that support success and growth. Because of this, they focused on success in the perfect situation rather than the real world where things rarely go according to plan.

We live in Athens, Georgia, home to the University of Georgia. Half of a mile from our apartment is the University of Georgia track facility. Twice a week I will go the track to do an interval workout. One part of that workout is running the steps in the stands at the track. Behind the track is the football facility. When I reach the top of the stairs, I am looking into the training room full of tables, exercise machines, and other resources to help football players recover from injuries. During football season a few years ago, I stopped at the top of the steps to catch my breath and looked down to see the training room full of athletes rehabbing from injuries. Out of curiosity I scanned the room to see if I recognized any of the players. On the left side of the room, I saw the starting quarterback, Stetson Bennett, throwing passes at weird angles to some. My first thought was, “That’s odd. Why is he throwing short passes at weird angles? Who does that?” Then I smiled and thought, “Those that want to consistently win championships are the ones who do that.” If you practice for the perfect catch, it may never come. If you practice for the unperfect catch, though, you win games – lots of games.

Respond

In a Growth Culture the ability to respond takes on a very proactive understanding. The key word is proactive. Don’t leave the response to chance. It is not enough to see what is happening and anticipate the outcomes. If people wait until you tell them to respond, it is probably too late. The world is full of people that know what the problem is, the potential outcomes, and the response options. But they wait on someone else to tell them what to do. This is a sure path to mediocrity not growth. In a Growth Culture you need people who can see, anticipate, and respond in ways that drive growth.  In Part 2 we will explore the skills to develop in your team to support the behaviors of growth.