Have you ever looked around at your industry, workplace, or your colleagues and wondered to yourself “How am I doing?”. Instead of judging others for how you perceive they are doing? Self awareness can be a powerful thing. It can help in understanding not only people, but situations.
I work with a fair number of different individuals on a daily basis. It’s human nature to have an agenda or goals and a path to achieve both. However, I think we sometimes focus on our goals and agendas to the detriment of others who also have places they would like to get to. I believe that we could enhance our achievements by keeping others in perspective and part of our equation. I enjoy working collaboratively with others. I usually learn something I didn’t know either about the situation or the person themselves. It expands my knowledge base and creates a more inclusive working environment.
Recently, I have been asked to coach some newer entry level colleagues. I am excited to work with them and find their learning styles, their “end game” and what they want out of our industry. I was speaking with one such individual and asked which he would rather work with: single unit or small fleet trucking accounts or big fleets? His immediate response was “The Big Fleets…more trucks, more premium Man!” I couldn’t help but smile to myself. That way of thinking isn’t really where his head should be at. He needs to afford the trucking industry a little more respect and learn it before conquering it, in my opinion. I gently suggested this to him and he was a little resistant at first but listened to what I had to say. I posed a few well positioned questions about coverage and operations that were a little out of his knowledge lane. He caught on very quickly that being a trusted advisor was not all about the money. He also appreciated the time I took to explain this to him and I found him engaged and interested. That made me think…”How am I doing” when I am talking with these new entry colleagues. Did I give him good advice? How did I feel when my mentors explained things to me (back in the dark ages)? How would he be the most receptive to this information? How was my delivery?
I’m really looking forward to bringing these guys along and will never stop asking; ”How am I Doing?”
