What is a True Contributor (Part 3)
Contributors,
Last week, you took a self assessment to write down your strengths and growth areas in the three portions of the Critical Triad. Where do you thrive? Where do you shrivel?
This week, we’re going to examine one area of the Triad - or one of the roles you play - in more depth. That role is that of Contributor. You are, in each and every moment of your personal and professional life, a contributor. That means you have something to do, to create, and to provide
As a Contributor, you have a combination of talent, personality, and experience that are yours and yours alone. The goal of the three trainings in the Contributor portion of the Triad is to ensure that you're able to tap into that rich material. And tapping into that requires a set of skills and competencies.
“Skills” and “competencies” are often used interchangeably in the workplace. They are intimately related concepts, but they are distinct from one another.
A skill is a strength or a proficiency in a specific task or concept. For example, the ability to enter into “growth mindset” is a foundational skill for True Contributors (which is why it’s the first training in our program).
A competency is the ability to achieve a specific outcome by bringing several skills together.*”
The Competencies and Skills of a CONTRIBUTOR
The overarching competency of a CONTRIBUTOR is to HOLD PRESENCE, which we define as:
The ability to operate with confidence and courage rather than complacency and fear, especially in the face of change, the unknown, or transformation.**
Achieving this competency - or the ability to "hold presence" - requires three skills:
Growth mindset: the belief that with time, practice, and hard work, you can improve at something that is difficult for you right now.
Emotional agility: the ability to channel or harness your big emotions in ways that lead you to your goals, and not detract you from them.
Using your voice effectively: being able to speak up clearly and persuasively when you have something to contribute.
To illustrate these points, meet James***
Hi, James!
James is 29 and has been working at Your Company for three years. He has been in business development for most of his career. He is a “people person,” and enjoys interacting with clients and his colleagues. James strives to be timely and efficient with his work because he wants to do a good job and takes pride in doing so. He is a good team player and is interested in moving into a leadership role in business development. James is good with the details and loves the high of winning new business for Your Company.
It's Tuesday morning and James is entering a meeting with a potential client.
Enter, Samantha.
Samantha is a director at her firm and is researching companies, much like Your Company, that provide a set of services that her firm is seeking. Through their conversation, James learns that Samantha is interested in learning whether Your Company could provide a service that is different from your standard offerings to help her firm launch New Important Product. James listens but is having a hard time envisioning what Samantha is asking for because it's outside his area of expertise. He is well versed in Your Company's standard offerings. James, however, does not understand Samantha’s questions or what she is trying to learn, as it does not fit into the standard menu of client services Your Company provides.
James tells Samantha that unfortunately, Your Company does not offer the services she is looking for.
Samantha thanks him, walks out of the meeting, and never thinks about Your Company ever again.
James is good at his job and meets expectations. But when presented with an opportunity like this, he is not equipped to do much more than shut it down, as he is wedged between fear and complacency. We can almost feel the discomfort in James's body when Samantha asks for something that is slightly out of the norm. He does not know how to, or desire to, go beyond the bounds of what he has already learned and mastered.
Consequently, Your Company has lost a valuable client and James has missed an important opportunity for himself and his team.
Imagine if, instead:
James's interest is peaked by Samantha’s request. He has studied and understands Your Company’s current offerings and recognizes that what Samantha needs is different from your company’s standard menu of services. James also recognizes that your firm’s leadership is interested in bringing on new clients and is invested in keeping their service offerings current. James asks Samantha a series of questions to learn more about what she needs. He writes an email highlighting the information and sends it to his lead, who presents it to your company’s leadership - and they are intrigued. They are interested in working with Samantha’s company and are encouraged by the idea of tweaking current services to provide a new suite of client offerings, not just for Samantha’s company, but for others, too. The catalyst for growth has been set and your company is on its way to winning new business.
What's the difference between James in the first scenario and James in the second?
PRESENCE.
The ability to operate with confidence and courage rather than complacency and fear, especially in the face of change, the unknown, or transformation.**
James used his growth mindset training to face something he found uncomfortable - going out of his area of expertise and asking questions on which he is not the subject matter expert. James used his emotional agility training to ensure that his initial discomfort and fear did not derail his ability to listen to Samantha's ideas at their meeting, and allowed himself to be open to an idea that he did not yet understand fully. Finally, he used his "voice" effectively to get the concept to the right people, relying on the chain of command.
What a win! Way to go, James!
Let’s Put this to Practice
Now it's your turn. Take a moment to answer the following questions:
What parts of James's story do you relate to the most?
Where do you see your past or current behaviors in James's story?
Go back to your assignment from last week, where you examined the Triad, and you wrote down where you thrive and where you shrivel as a Contributor. How does your list stack up against your ability to have a growth mindset, be emotionally agile, and use your voice effectively? Where do you have strengths and where do you have opportunities?
For extra credit: take this to your boss, your colleagues, to a trusted friend or partner, and ask them to circle where they agree and where they disagree. Ask them for honesty and be ready to receive it with a mindset for growth.
Next week, we’ll go through the skills and competency of the second portion of the Triad: the Team Member, so you can examine your capabilities and opportunities in that area in more depth.
See you then,
Dr. Nahed A. Zehr
P.S. Want to share your assessment with us? We’d love to see it. You can send it to us directly at info@truecontributors.com or tag us on any of our social media platforms.
*These are our definitions. If you want to quick reads about skills vs. competencies, see this, this, and this.
**This is our working definition, adapted from the work of Dr. Amy Cuddy. Her book is here and her Ted Talk is here.
***James is a fictional character.
