I was recently interviewed by a business coach. It was an enjoyable process, and I wanted to share an excerpt of the interview. I thought you may find interesting:
Charrise McCrorey: Let’s talk about fear and its relationship with the culture you have built in your companies. In what ways do you combat fear? Work associates may come to the table afraid a lot of times. How do you help them with the fear of being wrong, of not knowing the answers to the questions you ask?
Ryan Poterack: Fear usually manifests itself when the associate is coasting in neutral…in other words, not participating. The person in a meeting not asking questions; not throwing out ideas; not challenging old ideas is simply coasting in neutral. To put it quite simply, I just don’t allow this type of behavior.
This doesn’t have to happen too many times to recognize a problem. It’s not an ambush, but if you’re sitting there quietly while the group is engaged in discussion; I will turn and ask “Charrise, what do you think?” If the person is clearly not engaged, I’m going to get in their proverbial face about it. I have to assume they are paying attention even if they are fearful and not wanting to engage in the discussion. I must believe they are paying attention otherwise I’m wasting money and they shouldn’t be in the room.
I know this can come off as tough but in practice, I’m only considered tough by people who don’t have the business’s best interest in mind. Associates should recognize pretty quickly there is a whole lot more to fear with non-participation. It also takes a lot more energy trying to avoid getting engaged than it does to interact, take a risk, and just lay it all out there.
Ryan Poterack was interviewed by business coach Charrise McCrorey as part of a discovery process for a book.
