I definitely bring my work home and I am sure I am not the only one. My youngest once said to me, “you talk to me like I am your client.” When my husband tells me about a work challenge, I have learned to ask if he wants an ear or a coach.
One of the other ways I have brought work home is with goal setting and performance reviews. Stop rolling your eyes at me! As a family, we have an informal conversation about what we are working on and how we are doing with the goals we set.
Remember, saying it out loud increases your commitment to action and creates an accountability partner increasing your likelihood of success.
On a trip to Nashville with the MG100 community, Marshall shared some of the common bad habits of leaders. Like everyone else, I asked myself if I was guilty of anything on the list.
The one that struck a chord was ‘winning too much.’ I am sure someone with this habit is coming to mind right now. They always have to be right, think they are right, enjoy being right, and will tell you they were right!
In my house it is a running joke that mom is always right. I thought this was the perfect thing to work on and shared my plan with my family.
Their response completely surprised me. My son said, “No, you don’t really need to work on that. You can’t help it if you’re right all the time, and it’s kind of fun to make fun of you for it, and it’s fine.” They all agreed.
A little stunned that it wasn’t a problem for them, I asked, “Okay, then what should I be working on?” They told me I needed to slow down and not be so full steam ahead when we are going somewhere or making a decision. They mean that both literally and figuratively, although I have little legs, I move them very quickly.
The conversation then evolved into kind of a “family performance review” of what each person needed to work on.
The big takeaway… What we think we need to work on isn’t always the problem. The only way to know what is having a negative impact is to ask those you are impacting.
Basically – get feedback and feed forward. Work on what matters to those that matter to you.
What are you working on?