You've been praised for your skill at mastering
detail, or your ability to work by yourself, or your assertiveness.
in fact, you even credit your business' success to these traits
that, you must humbly admit, come naturally to you.
But don't get too comfortable. Psychotherapist Lois P.
Frankel, Ph.D., co-founder of Corporate Coaching International
(with offices in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Jakarta, Indonesia),
says the very strengths on which you built your success might
eventually become your undoing--unless you balance them with other
abilities. When faced with the possibility of failure, she
explains, we tend to do much more of what helped us succeed in the
past. Turning up the volume, however, is often counterproductive to
success: Excessive attention to detail can result in having too
narrow a focus, the flip side to being a self-starter could be an
inability to work with others, and assertiveness can turn into
abrasiveness.
Frankel provides case studies and a battle plan for
self-improvement in Overcoming Your Strengths: 8 Reasons Why
Successful People Derail and How to Get Back on Track (retitled
in paperback as Jump-Start Your Career: How the
"Strengths" That Got You Where You Are Today Can Hold You
Back Tomorrow, published by Three Rivers Press). Frankel's
insights, gained from 20 years of experience in the human resources
field, can help entrepreneurs attain a better understanding of
themselves as well as learn how best to manage their employees.
Learning to recognize your real weaknesses could go far in helping
your business succeed where others have failed.
Content Continues Below
To help you understand the complicated issues of the psychology
of staying successful, we asked Dr. Frankel to give our readers an
introduction to the subject.
Scott S. Smith:How would a successful business owner
begin to recognize behavior patterns that could cause his or her
business to fail?
Dr. Lois P. Frankel: The issue is, how do you continue to
grow? Often, successful people do superstitious things; they repeat
behavior that worked in the past when they get into trouble. But an
infrequently talked about fact of business is that at some point,
technical expertise ceases to be the key factor in a business'
success.
Research shows that nine out of 10 people come from families
that have some type of dysfunction, such as alcoholism, depression
or inappropriate behavior, and these individuals cultivate
personality traits that can lead to failure. But even people from
healthy families can be programmed for difficulties, because they
don't see their personality weaknesses objectively. Getting the
perspective of a professional outsider can help you identify these
weaknesses and give you an idea of how to complement your
strengths. That might mean coaching or psychotherapy, doing a
formal feedback survey from colleagues, reading a self-help book,
attending a personal transformation seminar or some other
alternative.
Smith:What's a good way to begin understanding
yourself?
Frankel: The Myers-Briggs Type indicator is an inventory
I've found invaluable in assessing communication styles. It
shows preferences in four areas: what energizes you, what you pay
attention to, how you want to live life and how you make decisions.
There are 16 personality types. It can help you understand not only
yourself, but your employees as well. The test is available from
Consulting Psychologists Press at (800) 624-1765, or you can
get something similar at www.keirsey.com.
Smith:What about perfectionism and
workaholism?
Frankel: Many entrepreneurs think if they don't work
long, hard hours and do things perfectly, they won't be
successful. These are the hardest traits to change because they
clearly got these people to where they are, and a voice in their
heads from childhood says they aren't good enough unless they
do these things. Identity gets bound up with this, and sometimes it
requires therapy to break loose from that.
Entrepreneurs need to look at spending their time as they do
their money--by deciding what portion will be apportioned for their
top five priorities, and then when they've spent the allotted
time on each part, they stop. Anyone who suffers from being a
perfectionist or workaholic should start by making incremental
changes, like reducing the time at work by 10 percent, rather than
trying to make an abrupt change, which could [cause upheaval
personally and in the business].
Smith:Why do entrepreneurs tend to want to do
everything themselves?
Frankel: Micromanaging is a trait we may have learned in
childhood as a way of trying to control things. People with this
tendency should read Eric Flamholtz's and Yvonne Randle's
Growing Pains: How To Make the Transition From Entrepreneurship
to a Professional Managed Firm [Jossey-Bass Publishers]. You
have to get comfortable delegating authority if you want your
business to grow. Many business owners delegate responsibility but
not authority. You must realistically analyze which of your
employees have the strengths that will allow you to let some
aspects of the work go and know they will come back OK. You have to
build bench strength.
Smith:What about entrepreneurs who have the big
vision but have a hard time focusing on details?
Frankel: The big-picture types, like everyone else, need
to surround themselves with other perspectives and talents. They
need sounding boards who can show them the practical ramifications
of an idea.
Smith:You list condescension, abrasiveness,
belligerence, blaming others and insensitivity as "deadly
character traits." What are the traits of a successful
personality?
Frankel: Do people want to hang around you? That's
the bottom line. I list eight traits in my book that successful
people cultivate: noticing the importance of people, working
effectively with a group, paying attention to how you communicate,
being sensitive to others, working well with those who have
authority over you, balancing the big picture with the details,
being aware of customer needs and learning to network.
Smith:Many of these traits seem to involve building
healthy business relationships with and among employees, and with
those with whom you do business. How can entrepreneurs accomplish
this?
Frankel: Remember birthdays and important information. If
someone says his or her mother is going into the hospital,
don't forget that. Take employees to lunch once in a while, and
do something special for holidays. Entrepreneurs are often so
driven, they forget the niceties.
Employees should make a point of going out to lunch together
from time to time, and you should encourage this. If someone has
expressed an interest in the Yankees, bring in an article you see
about them that shows you heard and remembered what they said.
Smith:How can you improve your listening
skills?
Frankel: As Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the wife of Charles,
once said, `You can't listen without surrendering.' You
have to put your needs second to those of the person who is
speaking. Paraphrase what you just heard, ask questions that show
you heard, and reflect the feelings they're expressing [without
sounding forced].
Smith:What about being kind or honest? Can there be
too much of a good thing?
Frankel: We all grew up with the Golden Rule: Do unto
others as you would have others do unto you. But real kindness goes
a step further: Treat others as they want to be treated.
Kindness goes beyond relationship-building because it encompasses
what you do when there's no quid pro quo, when getting
something in return for what you do. You should be kind not because
someone is going to compensate you or reminds you to be kind, but
because you want to make a difference in the lives of those around
you. If you find this hard to do at first, [realize that] with
practice, it will become genuine. If you're insincere and
inconsistent, people will find out.
As for honesty, kindness has to be part of it. There's a
difference between being brutally honest, which would be too much
of a good thing, and being direct. To do it right, you need to tell
the person why you're having the conversation, listen fully to
their point of view, and decide what outcome is suitable for both
of you. Your reputation as being appropriately honest and kind will
affect not only your personal relationships, but your business ones
as well.
Smith:What are some ways to improve teamwork?
Frankel: It starts in strategy meetings. Praise the ideas
you like best; you build credit that way. Act as a facilitator
between comparing views. Invite quieter members of the group to
speak up. When it comes to working out the results, give everyone
something interesting to do that uses their skills to the best
advantage in a collaborative situation. Don't take all the best
parts for yourself. Whatever you're working on, invite input
from others.
Smith:You comment that "so many corporations
suffer from a lack of creativity." Why is that?
Frankel: In school, we train kids to think in a linear
way. Thomas Edison had to be taken out of school [because he
couldn't think this way]. The key to encouraging creativity is
to expand the playing field of acceptable behavior, then when
someone gets innovative or provides a different perspective, reward
them regardless of what you think of the idea.
Smith:You cite the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain as a
model of enlightened management. What can other businesses learn
from them?
Frankel: When you ask the Ritz-Carlton's employees
what they do, they all say they're ladies and gentlemen serving
ladies and gentlemen. The company instills a sense of self-worth.
They also cross-train employees so they're all empowered to do
whatever is needed to fulfill the needs of their guests. Every
employee has a budget, and if a guest asks the guy making the
coffee for masking tape, he can go out and buy some and it comes
out of his budget. He doesn't have to get approval.
Smith:You talk about the importance of having a
"can-do" attitude, but what if employees don't have
that?
Frankel: Often this is situational. If an employee
doesn't seem enthusiastic about his or her job, you probably
have the wrong person doing it. The Myers-Briggs test can tell you
what types of people fit certain kinds of jobs. In your initial
interview, you need to screen for the behaviors you want. Positive
self-talk tapes can also help instill the right attitude.
Smith:You strongly recommend networking as a way of
expanding a person's perspective and skill set. What if an
entrepreneur just doesn't have the time?
Frankel: No one sells a company better than its owner,
and this is something that needs to be done regularly-- worked into
the schedule even if other things have to be worked around it.
Learning to give up trying to do everything yourself will free up
the needed time. And encourage employees to network--as long as
they get the rest of their jobs done.
Scott S. Smith says that since freelance writing is a pretty
crazy profession, he's seeing a psychotherapist who happens to
be a former journalist.