I go to the same coffee place to write and edit and blog and read. I like to sit in that one spot. A padded bench seat facing the front door. I order my Frappuccino, lay out my stuff and start at it. And all the while I notice certain people… the regulars. Bearded guy with his wife. Senior couple with their three papers in the table right by the front. Bearded Vietnam Marine guy who always wears the same 1/3 Marine Corps cap. My son served in the 1/3. And Jewish theologian dude.
They are all somewhat creatures of habit…they have a certain way to do certain things…they are set in their ways. How often have managers and leaders had to engage and interact with someone ‘set’ in their ways? Aren’t we all set in certain ways? Maybe it is the way we sell or the way we prioritize operational tasks or maybe even the way we go about our entire day. I get it. I am no different. I have specific things that fall in specific times of the day. BTW, I have a tendency to walk through the next four tasks in my head and then say to myself “OK, let’s go”. I know, cheesy, right? And when I sold stuff, I always focused on a balance of personal to product questions.
How do you manage that? OK, wait for my catch-all phrase…”it depends”. It does. Is the habit beneficial or detrimental? Well, that is also relative without specific context. Is it a new habit or something more engrained into their being? What if it is a lack of habit or skill? Habit by definition is “an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary; e.g. the habit of looking both ways before crossing the street (Dictionary.com)”.
So what is a manager to do when recognizing or correcting or praising a habit?
All recognition (that would include correction and praise) is best and most objective when observed. That is the first place to start. Observation is a necessity for effective coaching techniques. How can you realistically coach, comment or speak to anything if it was not seen? Can you really do that from a scorecard or performance sheet? NO. All you see from those very important tools is trend and they do not include valuable things like behavior, context and motivational triggers. Once you have observed the habit (behavior), identify the decision making criteria (root cause), that sets you on your path as to whether you correct or praise. Context will dictate your next step. Context is everything. It can be history, environment, personality, time of day, who is involved and the best answered question in all things in life…why. After this, the direction of you coaching action will much clearer. Again this is about habits, so let’s consider a “what if”.
Let’s say you have a team member who is studying accountancy at university and you observe they take twice as long as everyone else in completing invoices and paperwork.
What about a sales rep that has to take a few moments after a sale, walk off the floor and collect themselves before re-emerging to engage more customers?
How about the rep who can get the job done as soon as you assign it and another that waits until the last minute or has to be reminded?
What about the rep who must have their coffee before anything starts or they claim the day will not be successful?
Habits can be deeply engrained character traits empathy, openness, being stoic or always challenging the status quo. Others can be sublime like always starting at the same place on the operational checklist, putting the toilet paper on the same way (paper flowing over or under) or the absolute ownership of “their” pen.
Some things you coach, some things you just leave alone. It depends. It depends what you are seeing, how it factors in the situation and if it is a battle you wish to face.
You see, I knew sales reps who thought humor was the best way to sell…all the time. Even when it wasn’t necessary or even sometimes inappropriate. The coaching was speaking to what was seen, tagging the behavior, isolating the true context of the situation and then coming to an action plan. Which was in this case that the sales rep needed to pay more attention to the customer (and their reactions) and less to just following their habitual “well, that’s just the way I sell.” So what about the following:
- Observe
- Wait for the conclusion (or step in if the habit is affecting the sale)
- Ask their opinion of the customer interaction
- Ask questions as needed to confirm context
- Share your insight and feedback
NOTE: Be sure the information is shared in a positive manner, even the hard stuff (unless they consistently slap people on the back or like to spit in their palm before shaking hands)
- Provide action plan (either praise the behavior to replicate or correct the behavior by giving a new idea to execute next time)
- And always, always follow up to see how the habit is working out and share feedback
People are quirky. I’m sorry, that is relative. People are unique. We all have our set ways of doing things and living our lives. Regardless of how another may view it. A manager and leader looks past or at least needs to look beyond what is a uniquely personal belief and focus on the behavior that is having an impact on the vision, objectives, goals and execution of the business. One might say that is a fine line between allowing and not allowing another’s personality to play a part in their job. Again it depends. It is also therefore a fine line between personality compliance and personality non-compliance. It is OK to be a humorous sales rep until the humor becomes unacceptable and inappropriate.
Does personality play a part is selling? You bet. Does habit play a part in selling? It can. To what extent it is a detriment or a benefit to your culture, your call. That just the way I have always looked at it.