In developing somebody, the odds of improving existing strengths far outweigh the odds of improving weaknesses. An individual can improve his weaknesses, but it’s rarely done from the outside. You can threaten the person. You can make him afraid. But that won’t bring improvement. On the other hand, if you point out strengths and help develop them, you capitalize on the person’s desire to do those things he’s already good at. (He obviously has no ambition for things he does poorly.) If a certain weakness is so bad you can’t ignore it, you may have to do one of two things: get him to work on it, or admit you can’t utilize this person. This amounts to developing someone through fear (the fear of losing his job)—which is far from ideal. By taking the positive approach, you may awaken a strength the person didn’t know he had. I've seen people discover artistic talent in middle life—a craft, painting, music, or something else. Part of training is testing for areas of additional capability.
Training Is Costly
- commit yourself to people who make mistakes
a. some times it costs, money and time
b. Handle grievances quickly
People are the most valuable part of what we do, and they come before our own convenience.”
c. Follow up the next day after a correction
Not Everything at Once
- Pace the training and break it into parts
Training also has to be paced. People can make only so much progress at a time. Even though you see several things they have to learn, you are wiser to break them into pieces they can handle. Have the patience to give the other pieces as time goes along.
- Treat the topic more than once
Pacing means not only spreading out our topics but treating each topic more than once. People rarely get anything the first time you say it. So you vary the wording each time, even though you’re saying exactly the same thing.
