Not Getting Ahead? Maybe It’s Them, Not You

A few years ago I scored a single-year 20-point increase on my Employee Experience score.

 The agency that ran the annual Employee Pulse Survey calculated the score a second time to double check the data.

 They said it was “statistically impossible” to improve that much in a year.

 But the numbers held.

 The score was an accurate reflection of the hard work my team and I had done that year.

When it came time for performance reviews, I was sure I’d get a top rating.

 Only 10% of the company got an X, and I knew I’d finally get one.

 You know where this is going.

“Why doesn’t this ‘statistically impossible’ achievement qualify for an X rating?” I asked my manager.

“Because I don’t have an X to give” she replied.

Within the corporate performance rating system, senior leaders decide where and how resources are allocated.

 When it came to performance ratings, our organization wasn’t considered critical to the business.

 My manager wasn’t allowed to give out an X rating to anyone on her team of 80 people.

 No matter how badly I wanted that X, or how much she wanted to give it to me, it wasn’t going to happen.

 And it had nothing to do with me.

So much of what happens in our lives often has much more to do with the systems we are in rather than

 anything that is personal.

Layoffs, promotions, performance ratings – they all feel personal and yet often have more to do with system dynamics than they

do with individual performance.

This same company rated employees characteristics, like “disruption” and “innovation” - traits that the company found valuable

in their employees.  

I realized that if I strove to improve my “disruptive” and “innovative” traits, those efforts would be in pursuit of attributes that

the company found valuable.

But what about the traits that I found valuable?

I was not being rated on things like patience, inquisitiveness, or humility.

 But those were traits that mattered to me.

Why should I pursue character development that was being dictated by the system, as opposed to pursuing traits I wanted for

myself?

Our families, communities, friend groups and work life are all systems that have personalities and rules of their own.

They promote certain traits, and discourage others.

Here are some questions to ask yourself about the systems you are a part of, and whether or not they are worthy of investing in:

1.     Are you headed in the right direction? - Will the character traits that are important to you personally improve or wither over time in this system? In two years will your skills be sharper or duller as a result of staying in the system you are in?

2.     Are you on equal footing? - Has the other side(s) invested as much in the relationship as you have? Or are you giving more than they are? This holds for relationships with people and with companies.

3.     Does life look worse, better, or the same a year from now in this system? A rising tide carries all boats. Is the tide going in or out in your current system?

Taking a look at the system dynamics that I find myself in, even at home, helps me to understand where I should double down and

fight for things that are important, and where there is no point in investing my energies.

If a system you are in doesn’t move you in the direction you want to go, or realizing your dreams within that system will never

happen, it’s time to move on.

Your energy and time are precious.

Make sure you allocate them to goals that you want to pursue, in systems that have the capacity to give you what you want.

Otherwise, you need to think about changing the systems you are in.

When you’re ready, there are two ways I can help:

1) I highly recommend the same course ($150) I used to get started posting on LinkedIn (affiliate link): The LinkedIn Operating System

2) 1:1 consulting sessions: gheim@graysonhayden.com