This month we will take the time to look at motivation. To start us off, this week’s guest post is from Wes Bailey, a former Army officer and West Point graduate who went on to garner an MBA on his way to starting his own business. The lessons he learned from his time in the Army directly translate to his work in the civilian sector, both in industry and in his own business practices. Here he gives us some reasons to be motivated to learn from those around us, especially those we don’t particularly get along with.
You don’t have to like everyone in your unit, and you certainly don’t need to be friends with all of them, but you’re potentially missing a major opportunity to learn from them. Given the normal work load, it’s understandable why we are highly motivated to avoid personality conflicts. Unlike the differences we may have with the interpretation of major moral or legal opinions, behavioral differences can be much more nuanced. It is for this reason that gleaning knowledge from someone you don’t enjoy being around can be so difficult. In other words, you could miss out on the chance to learn from their mistakes, sharpen your technical knowledge, and/or improve tactical skills simply because you do not like their personality or their behavior. Don’t let these things demotivate you – use those differences as a motivational challenge to glean from them what you may otherwise miss! Fortunately, there are some simple ideas and steps that you can think about to quickly rectify this situation.
The Reframe
First off, frame the situation in a new light. Maybe the friction you are experiencing allows you the prime opportunity to see how certain behaviors and choices are adversely impacting the organization. What may look like a difficult individual tactic or whole persona may actually play out in a completely different way in an organizational setting. Many times we operate on false assumptions based on what we individually believe achieves results in the short-term but fail to look at the long-term implications, both on us and in our organizational cultures. Maybe we can be more open to the other’s approach as we see it play out in the long-term.
But what if they actually are ‘that bad’? Continue with the reframe; learn from their mistakes and take those lessons with you when it comes time for you to lead them or when you have to step up in the organization.
The ability to recognize difficulties in others will enable you to better identify harmful traits in yourself. This self-awareness will become more important as you progress through your career and become responsible for the health and welfare of more people. If you can learn to take on every situation with kindness, compassion, and fairness, then you can be certain the long-term implications of the habit of reframing difficulty will compensate for any short-term setbacks.
Technical Knowledge
Technical ability, which typically consists of well-grounded theoretical knowledge of a particular subject, is usually found in training environments. Military examples of this can include Basic Training, Officer Basic Course, Expeditionary Warfare School, and Captains Career Course. In any one of those training environments there is always the possibility that you may run into an instructor or organizational leader that you do not jive with particularly well. However, it would be foolhardy to ignore the fact that they probably arrived in that organization based on the strength and depth of their technical knowledge.
The inability to look past a perceived behavioral imperfection could cause you to miss out on a variety of important skills. You may overlook the in-depth study of how to interpret critical pieces of battlefield information and how to strategically apply that information. You could fail to understand how to communicate across functional areas so that the entire organization can execute effectively. There may be even the possibility that you would not learn how to adequately plan and organize the resources necessary for mission success. All of these things tie into each other; missing one key piece because of mismatched personal feelings leads to mission failure.
Tactical Knowledge
When referring to Tactical Knowledge you are typically discussing actions-based activities. Essentially, tactical knowledge is the ability to take the more theoretical concepts, gained during technical training, and appropriately apply them to the battle field. Examples of this would include Warfighter Simulations, Live Fire Exercises, Field Training Exercises, and Joint Services Training. The leaders that excel in this area will typically have formed different behavioral skills that quickly lead them to success ‘on the ground’, many which can seem gruff and unrelenting. Unfortunately, these behaviors may once again distract form the overall value of their knowledge.
Tactical leaders tend to teach elements of war-fighting that are difficult to explain in a more academic environment. Yet, if you choose to ignore these leaders because of their style you will not have the chance to gain important tactical skills. A very important lesson you could miss are the various techniques that allow you to adapt to change when unforeseen challenges arise. Tactical leaders tend to be great examples of emotional resilience and grit; both critical when facing danger and adversity. Also, you could potentially miss out on the fact that these leaders have a habit of displaying physical courage, a trait that is indispensable for any Soldier.
Conclusion
Taking this approach will allow all parties to not only become better Soldiers but better people as well.
Here are some simple steps to forge ahead in a positive direction:
1) Become more self-aware. You may be conducting yourself in ways that attract the very behaviors that you find unpleasant. Identify these behaviors and modify them accordingly.
2) Find ways to be more empathetic to the other person’s situation. Usually people become unpleasant in response to their difficult circumstances. Let them know that you understand their situation and that you want to learn all that you can from them.
3) Alleviate their stress by becoming an ally. Once you have identified the other person’s pain points, let them know that you want to learn from them while assisting them in removing their stressors.
When you meet someone who you find unpleasant you tend to try to minimize your interaction with them. Though this type of reaction is completely understandable, it usually involves forgetting the beneficial qualities and knowledge that person possesses as well. We all should be motivated to hunt the good stuff in those around us; reframe it and use this as an opportunity to grow professionally by starting a conversation that may spark a transformation.