WEBVTT - Ask about your colleagues’ goals

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to learn about the hopes and dreams

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<v Speaker 1>of the people who work with you or who otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>spend a lot of time with you. This way, you

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<v Speaker 1>can help them build the skills needed to achieve those dreams.

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<v Speaker 1>This tip, like one from last week, comes from Kim

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<v Speaker 1>Scott's book Radical Candor. This book teaches readers how to

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<v Speaker 1>be a great boss. She asserts that a great boss

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<v Speaker 1>is a person who is radically candid, caring for and

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<v Speaker 1>challenging his or her team. Part of caring and challenging

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<v Speaker 1>means helping people grow. And while Scott's tips are mostly

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<v Speaker 1>aimed at managers, you can actually have similar conversations with

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of people in your life. Your colleagues, your friends,

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<v Speaker 1>your adult chill dren. You can learn how to be

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<v Speaker 1>of service while learning a lot about these people. Scott

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<v Speaker 1>recommends that managers have a series of career conversations with

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<v Speaker 1>each of their direct reports. The first career conversation focuses

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<v Speaker 1>on the person's life story, the second on her dreams,

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<v Speaker 1>and the third on her eighteen month plan. The life

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<v Speaker 1>story conversation is relatively straightforward. This is one you're hopefully

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<v Speaker 1>having anyway as you get to know a person through

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<v Speaker 1>informal chats. Where does the person come from? What forces

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<v Speaker 1>shaped his or her life. We've all been forged in

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<v Speaker 1>various crucibles, and it's hard to understand a person without

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<v Speaker 1>appreciating this. The dreams conversation is a little more unexpected.

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<v Speaker 1>Managers often sit down to talk about the next six

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<v Speaker 1>months or so, and the general idea is that there's

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<v Speaker 1>one path the person is focused on, but a dreams

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<v Speaker 1>conversation can be more open ended. Scott suggests starting with

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<v Speaker 1>the question what do you want the pinnacle of your

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<v Speaker 1>career to look like? You can then ask your team

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<v Speaker 1>member to share several different dreams for the future. It's

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<v Speaker 1>important here to keep asking questions rather than judging. Dreams

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<v Speaker 1>that seem outlandish can be great for understanding motivations. Once

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<v Speaker 1>your team member has identified three to five dreams, ask

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<v Speaker 1>her to list the skills needed for one or more

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<v Speaker 1>of the dreams. Then you can reflect on which of

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<v Speaker 1>these skills she has and what she needs to acquire

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<v Speaker 1>or developed. Further, Scott proposes that your role as a

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<v Speaker 1>manager is to help think through how your employee can

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<v Speaker 1>acquire those skills. What training or educational opportunities are available

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<v Speaker 1>in your organization or in your community. What projects can

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<v Speaker 1>this employee work on to build specific skills. Can you

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<v Speaker 1>introduce her to people in your organization or beyond who

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<v Speaker 1>can serve as mentors or resource this. I like Scott's

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<v Speaker 1>approach because these sorts of deep conversations really help you

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<v Speaker 1>get to know a person and what motivates them. It's

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<v Speaker 1>easy to assume that your direct reports dreams are the

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<v Speaker 1>same as yours when you are in that position, but

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<v Speaker 1>that's not always the case. If you're having these conversations

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<v Speaker 1>with friends or adult children, you can likewise learn to

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<v Speaker 1>help serve them in the ways that matter most to them.

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<v Speaker 1>And I also think this approach is especially good for

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<v Speaker 1>managers because, let's face it, people have all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>different opportunities and career paths outside your organization. By talking

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<v Speaker 1>about dreams and paths to get there, you position your

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<v Speaker 1>organization as a resource for your employee to pursue her dreams.

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<v Speaker 1>You're not just a detour on the way to the

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<v Speaker 1>larger goal. If you can identify ways that your organization

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<v Speaker 1>can help your team members build the skills they each want.

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<v Speaker 1>Then you're providing them with an additional source of value

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<v Speaker 1>in their jobs. It's about professional growth and not just

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<v Speaker 1>a paycheck, and that makes people more likely to stay

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<v Speaker 1>in their jobs. So what do you know about your

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<v Speaker 1>team members dreams? How are you supporting them as they

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<v Speaker 1>pursue those dreams? Drop me a line and let me

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<v Speaker 1>know at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H