Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to learn about the hopes and dreams
Speaker 1: of the people who work with you or who otherwise
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time with you. This way, you
Speaker 1: can help them build the skills needed to achieve those dreams.
Speaker 1: This tip, like one from last week, comes from Kim
Speaker 1: Scott's book Radical Candor. This book teaches readers how to
Speaker 1: be a great boss. She asserts that a great boss
Speaker 1: is a person who is radically candid, caring for and
Speaker 1: challenging his or her team. Part of caring and challenging
Speaker 1: means helping people grow. And while Scott's tips are mostly
Speaker 1: aimed at managers, you can actually have similar conversations with
Speaker 1: all sorts of people in your life. Your colleagues, your friends,
Speaker 1: your adult chill dren. You can learn how to be
Speaker 1: of service while learning a lot about these people. Scott
Speaker 1: recommends that managers have a series of career conversations with
Speaker 1: each of their direct reports. The first career conversation focuses
Speaker 1: on the person's life story, the second on her dreams,
Speaker 1: and the third on her eighteen month plan. The life
Speaker 1: story conversation is relatively straightforward. This is one you're hopefully
Speaker 1: having anyway as you get to know a person through
Speaker 1: informal chats. Where does the person come from? What forces
Speaker 1: shaped his or her life. We've all been forged in
Speaker 1: various crucibles, and it's hard to understand a person without
Speaker 1: appreciating this. The dreams conversation is a little more unexpected.
Speaker 1: Managers often sit down to talk about the next six
Speaker 1: months or so, and the general idea is that there's
Speaker 1: one path the person is focused on, but a dreams
Speaker 1: conversation can be more open ended. Scott suggests starting with
Speaker 1: the question what do you want the pinnacle of your
Speaker 1: career to look like? You can then ask your team
Speaker 1: member to share several different dreams for the future. It's
Speaker 1: important here to keep asking questions rather than judging. Dreams
Speaker 1: that seem outlandish can be great for understanding motivations. Once
Speaker 1: your team member has identified three to five dreams, ask
Speaker 1: her to list the skills needed for one or more
Speaker 1: of the dreams. Then you can reflect on which of
Speaker 1: these skills she has and what she needs to acquire
Speaker 1: or developed. Further, Scott proposes that your role as a
Speaker 1: manager is to help think through how your employee can
Speaker 1: acquire those skills. What training or educational opportunities are available
Speaker 1: in your organization or in your community. What projects can
Speaker 1: this employee work on to build specific skills. Can you
Speaker 1: introduce her to people in your organization or beyond who
Speaker 1: can serve as mentors or resource this. I like Scott's
Speaker 1: approach because these sorts of deep conversations really help you
Speaker 1: get to know a person and what motivates them. It's
Speaker 1: easy to assume that your direct reports dreams are the
Speaker 1: same as yours when you are in that position, but
Speaker 1: that's not always the case. If you're having these conversations
Speaker 1: with friends or adult children, you can likewise learn to
Speaker 1: help serve them in the ways that matter most to them.
Speaker 1: And I also think this approach is especially good for
Speaker 1: managers because, let's face it, people have all sorts of
Speaker 1: different opportunities and career paths outside your organization. By talking
Speaker 1: about dreams and paths to get there, you position your
Speaker 1: organization as a resource for your employee to pursue her dreams.
Speaker 1: You're not just a detour on the way to the
Speaker 1: larger goal. If you can identify ways that your organization
Speaker 1: can help your team members build the skills they each want.
Speaker 1: Then you're providing them with an additional source of value
Speaker 1: in their jobs. It's about professional growth and not just
Speaker 1: a paycheck, and that makes people more likely to stay
Speaker 1: in their jobs. So what do you know about your
Speaker 1: team members dreams? How are you supporting them as they
Speaker 1: pursue those dreams? Drop me a line and let me
Speaker 1: know at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
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