4 Questions Every Employee Should Be Asking
Over the last year I’ve covered a lot of topics. Most recently, I covered the idea of placing the right person in the right seat using Kolbe Wisdom™. One area however that I’d like to cover in more depth is the area of how an employee best utilizes these resources, and what questions they should be asking.
My goal is to help employees better utilize their Kolbe A™ Index results .
Just a reminder before we dive in. This blog is designed for employees (if you’re a manager, click here).
4 questions that every employee should be asking
To more effectively utilize their individual Kolbe A™ Index results .
(1) Are you working within your individual strengths?
The reason this question is important to ask is because when you’re not working within your individual strengths, it’s tiresome. The core of this question is really designed around four Kolbe Action Modes™: 1) how do you best gather and share information 2) how do you organize your work 3) how do you handle risk and uncertainty and 4) how do you handle tangible elements? These elements ultimately aid answering the core question of whether or not you’re operating within your sweet spot. So, do you feel like you’re working within your individual strengths?
(2) Who do you bring into projects when you get stuck?
The most productive employees are self aware enough to best leverage those around them. This means they understand when it’s best to bring others into their projects, and in what ways to utilize them as a compliment to their own strengths. So, what are the areas you could use more resource in? What’s holding you back from bringing others into your projects? When you change your perspective from thinking you simply need help to understanding how you can best resource yourself, the results can be quite powerful.
(3) Are you managing conflict within projects?
First, I’d like to remind you that Kolbe Wisdom™ looks at the conative elements of your self (i.e. any natural tendencies, impulses, or directed efforts - the instincts). The reason that I preface this section with that explanation is because conflict is sometimes easy to skip over; many employees don’t believe that conflict is something they should be concerned with, but that’s absolutely not true. By truly understanding your strengths and how to navigate projects with others whose conative (instinctual) differences could cause conflict, you’ll be better prepared to be more productive (also looking better in front of your managers).
(4) How do you start well?
When it comes to starting something (project, task, etc.), everyone operates differently. Naturally, we all gravitate to our most instinctual of skill sets. With this in mind, it’s important to ask yourself how you start things well so that you can best prepare yourself for working within a team of not always like minded individuals; or individuals with different instinctual skill sets. Remember, the more self aware you are willing to be, the better position you’ll be able to put yourself into (or the more you’ll understand when you’re in the wrong position). Are you preparing yourself to start new things well?
Whether you’re just starting your career or have been working for 30+ years, I hope that these questions help you better utilize the power behind your own instinct. Remember, I can lead you to water, but only you can decide if you want to drink.
(Unless you hire me, I guess).
-E