How to help any employee go from chump to champ

David Benzel
Tags: talent management

Alex knew Chase had tremendous potential. As his manager, Alex was frustrated watching someone like Chase wallow in mediocrity when he should be excelling in the workplace. It wasn’t laziness; Chase always did what was required. It wasn’t a poor attitude, either. In fact, Chase often commented on how much he loved his job. He just seemed stuck, so as his manager, Alex decided it was his job help take Chase’s performance to the next level. The question is, what can he do?

Alex’s dilemma is all too common in the workplace. Managers feel a responsibility and a need to help employees raise their game. It’s good for the company and the employee, and usually the customer wins, too! But most managers don’t know how, and threats and coercive tactics fail to have any lasting impact. Incentives represent a much healthier approach, but the increase in performance often disappears as the incentive does.

There is another way. As a manager or supervisor, you are in the unique position to influence people who report to you. Unfortunately, most managers choose to influence their people by telling them things, rather than asking good questions, then giving great affirmations. The trick is knowing what to ask and what to affirm. Through the following four-step process, employees will be transformed from the inside out – a quantum leap – and it will be their choice to go from chump to champ!

1. DREAM  2. AIM  3. IMAGINE  4. BELIEVE

Have your employee write down the answers to these and others like them. Assist him or her in starting a notebook, and call this “Step One – Declaring My Dream.”

This information should be entered in the Quantum Leap notebook as “Step Two – Identifying My Targets.”

If you truly believe in a person’s potential, the images you share from the theater of your mind will have the force of a prophecy and create a sense of confidence.

Encourage people to play success scenes in their mind daily. This imagery should also be written by each of you and entered into the Quantum Leap notebook as “Step Three – Seeing My Success.”

Discover what personal roadblock messages they hear and help them replace those messages with new messages. Explain that self-talk must be positive and repeated daily if it’s going to replace negative self-talk. A mental “upgrade” begins with “I can; I am; I do; or I succeed at …” These statements should be written and entered into the Quantum Leap notebook as “Step Four – Believing my Success.”

Initially, you will coach the four steps in sequence but soon realize that they become integrated steps. On any given day, your employee’s thoughts will glide seamlessly from the high altitude of a dream, down to the earthly details of the day’s most immediate target. Your employee’s life is being transformed because he or she sees their world differently. And because they see the world differently, it is

About the author :

David Benzel is an author and speaker in leadership and creating peak performance. As the founder of Winning Ways, he has worked with organizations including Allstate Insurance, Sprint/Nextel and The Villages. His experience includes six national water-skiing titles and five records, coach of the U.S. Water-ski team and founder/coach of an international training center. David is the author of, “Chump to Champ: How Individuals Can Go From Good to Great” (Advantage Media). To contact David, call 800-616-1193 or visit davebenzel@cs.com.