Many of the core issues that face business leaders today have to do with people interactions. There are all sorts of characteristics and attributes that shape us and our interactions with others. One of the interesting aspects is our unique human wiring pattern.
We all have a human wiring pattern and some traits are more dominant than others. Your wiring has an underlying impact on your success in business and how you navigate circumstances.
Wiring tells us how people are best engaged in decision making and why some people want lots of information to make an effective decision, while others want the critical points of information.
None of this is good or bad, or right or wrong, it just is. When we objectively understand the strengths and limitations of each wiring trait, we can better coach ourselves and others through challenges.
For example, if your wiring measures high on certainty, you are conscientious, thorough, and careful that whatever you are responsible for is done right. While this hardwiring trait is a strength, because it drives you to produce work of great quality, it can also be a limitation if not managed.
Instead of living your life from a place of self-acceptance, individuals wired high in this certainty trait find themselves chasing the illusion of having everything in their lives be “correct,” “right,” “perfect,” or “orderly.”
When left unmanaged, you:
• Become overwhelmed and can remain stuck for long periods of time because nothing is ever good enough or live in a world of what’s wrong with the picture?;
• Don’t delegate because only you can do it best;
• You get stuck in being right about something or remain upset when something is out of place;
• Delay decision making if you don’t have all of the information you need; or
• Focus on the barriers or reasons you shouldn’t move ahead rather than creating opportunities;
The good news
As many of my mentoring clients or students of my Wired to Win classes have learned, you can best leverage your wiring when you have an opportunity to complete the work in its entirety with a high degree of precision. You often develop a particular skill or knowledge and expertise in a specialized field. People will seek you out because of it.
While the pandemic may have pinged your wiring negatively, in that, you want certainty during an uncertain time, there is one phrase that has made a real difference in managing any situation.
If you measure higher in certainty, your brain immediately goes to what’s not right, what’s wrong, or what’s out of place. Remind yourself that there’s nothing wrong. Everything is just as it is. It’s not wrong, there’s simply an opportunity.
For example:
1. Shift From Overwhelm to Opportunity
If you tell yourself, I’m overwhelmed when a project seems really big in scope, take a moment to remind yourself that there is nothing wrong. Instead, think in terms of phases or releases.
Break down a big concept, idea or even project into bite-sized pieces and handle the pieces one at a time (and delegate if you can). When one client was overwhelmed with a project, I suggested she roll it out a small beta group first, rather than launch to her entire organization. Her overwhelm disappeared when taking this approach because she aligned the execution of the project with her natural wiring.
2. Reset from Perfect to Work in Progress
If you’re always trying to launch the perfect project which might be creating delays, change your approach. Launch it with the intention that it’s a work in progress and solicit feedback for it. Don’t try to make whatever you’re working on perfect from the start. Instead, get other people’s input and improve it over time.
3. Shift your View
In an effort to make the perfect decision, you seek out more information or more input weighing how things won’t work. Balance your thinking by making a checklist of how something could work.
When a client was concerned that her industry was the first to be identified in the stay-home orders, she immediately went into the worst-case scenario and to the extreme that everything is shutting down. We began to identify alternative income streams that she could deploy online during this time while still being compliant with the stay-home orders. It opened up a whole new revenue stream and what would be possible even during extreme circumstances.
To successfully navigate change, it’s important to become aware of your natural human wiring and work with it. By using these simple tips, you can honor your wiring and manage your need for certainty in an uncertain world.
Invitation
If you’re inspired to learn about your human wiring, join us for Wired to Win 101: How Are You Hardwired? .
Leave a Reply