Personal change: change your career limiting habit

THE PROBLEM OF ANGRY BILL or How to change your career-limiting habit THE PROBLEM THE WILLPOWER TRAP Didn't anyone listen to the assignment? Are you stupid or do you just not care We use performance management and Bill's career-limiting habit is a nasty temper. Bill acts abusively enough to get the job done right? rewards to alter the behaviour. And if it toward people who disappoint him. doesn't help, we assume it's because they lack willpower and getting them to change His problem is clearly that he requires simply applying the model more aggressively. In so doing, we create more depression than we do change. doesn't want to change. He likes exhibiting his power and derives You just lack willpower! some sort of perverted pleasure out of displaying his dominance This cycle is called "the willpower trap"- over others. the fundamental belief that personal motivation is everything. HOW TO HELP BILL? Simple yet effective plan CARD NEW PHRASES He began to carry a card with his old angry expressions and new He was taught phrases that ones, that he needed to use produced positive motivation Motivation Ability instead. When he came to and phrases that led to careful meeting he read it. When he conversations. began to feel his temper rising, he read it again. Bill didn't have no will nor a skill to change his behaviour. If change is requiring too much will, it's often because we lack some key skills. WEEKLY CHECK PEER HELP His bosses modelled this kind of abusive behaviour for years. Those Bill abused fell silent and redoubled their efforts to please him the next time. Bill's boss reviewed his change Bill also found two peers who progress with him weekly. were willing to call him on his transgressions in real time. Since he was valued by CEO, Bill thought that his success has been because of not in spite of his career-limiting habit. He works on projects so he doesn't build long-term relationships. CHOCOLATE CALENDAR Bill kept his attention on his Bill used a calendar to put X very changes by rewarding- or Research: Those who engaged day he followed his new prescription. Something as simple punishing-himself. When he did good he got a chocolate, when not he tossed a chocolate away. all six sources of influence were as placing an X on a chart kept Bill 10 aware of his behaviour and created a sense of accomplishment. times as successful. Brought to you by Grenny, J. (2012), Change anything: The 21st-century approach to performance management and avoiding the willpower trap. Leader to Leader, 2012: 26–31. doi: 10.1002/t.20006 Sources HRseconds.com Photo: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Personal Structural Social