She shouldn't make such a fuss

"You can't imagine. I really give everything to my employees. I motivate them to the best of my ability. There are incentive trips, the employee offers without end, a gym in the company building, yoga classes, etc. Now we are going through hard times in the company, and there is extremely high pressure on the market. My employees really get everything. The only thing I ask is that they deliver quickly for the many benefits I offer them, and I am convinced that they can be grateful to have such a boss," Ralf S., owner of a medium-sized private equity company, talked himself into a rage. "That was also the reason why I did an employee survey. The result, however, was devastating. I still can't believe it."

"I would do anything to make sure the results are good next time. What do you recommend?"

"What could be the first step?" I want to know from my client.

"A training session that reiterates to employees all that we do for them as a company," was his prompt response. I then asked him to repeat the energetic "talk" he had given just before, and we recorded it on his smartphone. We then set up several chairs symbolizing his employees, and he took a seat on one of the chairs. "Which employee do you think is particularly dissatisfied," I asked Ralf S. "Nicole M., a highly intelligent marketing specialist, constantly on her cell phone or at yoga class, which we also offer, by the way, and supposedly with burnout tendencies that I can't comprehend at all. When I say to her, please complete the process NOW. Then she looks at me almost uncomprehendingly and seems to consider when it fits into her rhythm. When I then say: I meant now. Then she does it, but reluctantly. Colleagues of hers now tell me that she can't cope with the pressure I put on her. Oh my goodness, they have everything - I just motivate people in my own way. Where's the pressure in doing something quickly or right now?"

"Phew - that's intense!"

He writes the name of the employee on one of the chairs, and I ask him to take a few minutes and empathize with Nicole M. . At first, he looks at me uncomprehendingly - but then gets involved in the process within the scope of his empathic possibilities. Then I press "play" on his smartphone and play his "energetic" message while he listens in the role of Nicole M..

The result stuns him. "Phew - that's intense. I would never have thought that. My voice sounds demanding - all my energy, which I mean motivationally, hits Nicole M. hard - it actually puts pressure on her. I would never have thought that."

Ralf S. has discovered a so-called blind spot in himself. Blind spots are personality traits that escape one's own perception but are very well known in one's environment. As in the case of Ralf S.: Nicole M. knew the difficult sides of Ralf S. and had formulated them very clearly in the employee survey. Ralf S., on the other hand, was not at all aware that he was exerting great pressure, while he, in turn, was able to name the difficult sides of his employee very well.

The explosive power of the blind spot

The employee survey and the subsequent exercise in coaching brought to light what is typical of the blind spot: a relatively large discrepancy between the employee's own and others' perception of problematic behaviour. Ralf S. was sure that he was a great motivator - Nicole M., on the other hand, felt constantly pressured by him. In the long run, a blind spot usually has a certain explosive power, especially when it comes to employee management. The "bomb" then often explodes due to the gap between the self-assessment of the manager and the assessment of the relevant environment.

The LINC Personality Profiler external image, which we focused on during the following intensive day, then enabled him to systematically compare self-image and external image combined with a 360° feedback process with his managers. Using clear graphics, we were able to show at glance deviations as well as similarities between his self-image and the external image of his closest employees. In the subsequent coaching process, we uncovered further blind spots based on the external assessment, and he identified opportunities for his personal development, which we were able to successfully address in the further coaching process.

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