As a high achiever when you went from being an individual contributor to a people manager did you expect that everyone would perform at the same level of skill, commitment and hard work as you?
And when they don’t do you tend to feel frustrated?
In an ideal world, you would only meet people as competent and motivated as yourself
BUT, unfortunately in the real world, not everyone has the same level of drive, or resources to perform at a high level. Factors such as personal circumstances, life experiences, and individual strengths and weaknesses all impact performance and success.
And expecting everyone to perform like a high achiever only leads to disappointment, frustration, and a negative impact on work relationships.
It also fosters a competitive and stressful work environment, which use a negative impact on morale.
Instead here is what you could do:
- Accept that not everyone can or wants to perform at the level that you do
- Get to know people and understand their strengths
- Align work based on strengths and interests. This is more likely to get you better results than expecting the same from everyone
- Set clear expectations of the outcome.
- Strike a balance between mentoring and autonomy based on skill level and ownership.
- Review work and share feedback in the spirit of teaching and growing people.