MAP And Authenticity
by Miki SaxonI love when my readers call with questions, situations or just to chat (you can reach me at 866.265.7267), so when Tony called I was delighted.
At one point he asked why I harped so much on the psych stuff that I refer to as MAP.
I told him that all coaches/consultants/mentors bring their own philosophy/approach/spin to a subject and I’m no different. My focus has always been on what I call MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™), because we are and do as we think.
I believe that how you think sets the stage for what you do.
In other words, if your thoughts and the actions aren’t in sync then you lose authenticity—and you can’t win success at any level if you’re not authentic.
Further, there’s no way you can implement the best advice on the globe if it’s not at least synergistic with your MAP.
A great example I’ve seen of this was a district sales manager we’ll call “Jim.”
Jim’s office was known for its individualistic salespeople and somewhat erratic production. It never won high office sales awards in spite of having several of the company’s top individual producers, while “Brad’s” office won top honors year after year without any stars.
On one hand, Jim craved an office like Brad’s, but on the other, he belittled the “rah-rah” tactics that Brad believed in and used to motivate his team.
Jim tended to hire people like himself (a common managerial tendency)—gregarious loners who also didn’t respond to team tactics and motivation.
When Jim paid for a professional, day long, team-building program it fell flat. His people thought it was corny and knew that Jim didn’t believe in it either; beyond that, Jim didn’t change his own style of benign neglect.
Simply stated, Jim felt that he could go through the motions; say the correct words and his people would join in. He had no interest in changing his MAP, so there was no authenticity in his actions.
But people aren’t stupid; proceeding as if they are is a recipe for disaster, whatever the size of your organization and no matter what you are trying to do.
Image credit: justinsomnia on flickr
