SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: Would you rather have the challenge of improving a low performer or inspiring a high performer?
- I’d prefer to help a low performer improve: 34.07%
- I’d rather inspire and challenge a high performer: 65.93%
Step up to the plate. Clearly most folks would rather take high performers and inspire them to achieve new levels of greatness by a margin of two to one. I’d offer that you’re missing a huge opportunity with that approach. First, you’ll likely learn more and build more leadership skills in your efforts to help a poor performer improve. Second, there’s actually very little risk in making the investment of taking on poor performers and helping them grow. If you succeed it’s a huge win, and if you fail you haven’t risked much in terms of your reputation because you volunteered to take on some “damaged goods.” Bottom line — consider helping someone improve and succeed rather than taking the easier path of making someone who is successful even more successful.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS and author of “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”