We all have a second job that we’re doing all the time. We’re managing how we come across. We’re trying to hide our weaknesses. We’re trying to influence what other people think about us. ~ Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey
An Everyone Culture, co-authored by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, suggests a new kind of organizational culture. They believe that we all spend at least part of our energy hiding our weaknesses and our inadequacies. Consequently, work is no longer a place where we are likely to grow and develop, and this benefits no one.
Instead, imagine a culture where you are encouraged to see your weaknesses as an opportunity to grow, to learn, to do something differently, to improve your backhand.
Here are two examples of this “everyone culture.”
- Do you lean arrogant or insecure?
Here’s how one company, Next Jump, lives a culture where energy is focused on growth and development as opposed to hiding weaknesses. First they simplified the concept. They determined that it’s good to be confident, but it is not good to be so confident that you always think you’re right. So they call it what it is – arrogance. Likewise, it’s good to be humble, but it’s not good to be so humble that you’re discrediting yourself, so they call that what it is – insecurity.
So at Next Jump employees will very quickly let you know if they lean arrogant or lean insecure, because everybody leans in one direction or the other. One of their suggestions is when insecure people are in meetings, they should get their voice in early. And if you lean arrogant, wait before jumping into the conversation. At Next Jump, they call this their backhand. While everyone hits with their forehand better; everybody has a backhand that could use some improvement.
Your backhand isn’t something you hide. It’s something you’re continuously bringing out and getting support to get better at.
- What are your sources of frustration?
Ask yourself, what is something you really want to be able to do, but believe you can’t. Then look at the source of your frustration (aka: blind spot). Ask yourself a self-reflective question like, “what am I actually doing that works against my effort to do X”? In other words, start asking why instead of jumping to what you need to do differently.
As an example, if you really want to be able to delegate more, ask yourself, “what am I doing that works against my effort to delegate more”? Identify the source, then begin making changes at the source. Said another way, strengthen your backhand by identifying your blind spots and focusing on change at the source of your frustration.
Robert Kegan said, “These everyone culture organizations are very high-performing by not being so performance-oriented as they are practice-oriented. It’s leading a culture as a kind of strategy.”
It’s improving your leadership backhand.