Recently I had the opportunity of judging someone’s actions and see if that someone did a good job or not, if the tasks have been completed and how. I am talking about a small legend in my country, an ethical person with high spirits that had to run a team.

It’s not easy to be “almost perfect” in your niche and to be forced to work with common people because you will ask them to perform just like you. They won’t be able to do it and the team will be drawn back.

Reasons why you shouldn’t do it

If someone experienced, is asking me to deliver something that I can’t or that I never did before, chances are for the job to remain undone and I could develop a bad sentiment of inferiority. This is what makes your team members to lose faith in their own powers or lose interest in doing something they consider not to be suited for. This is a no-return point from where you cannot motivate your team further to listening to you.

What should be done?

1. First thing to do in such a problem is to make a realistic assessment of the team. Unless you know what each member is capable to do, you won’t know what to ask from them and you may ask either too much or too less.
2. This is something I learned from my father since I was a little boy, if he doesn’t know, teach him. We learn things until the very last seconds of our lives. Teach your crew the best you can.
3. Another thing you should consider is winning the trust of the person, by maintaining a warm discussion. A low and calm tone in the voice tells a lot about a person and people tend to listen. You need to make sure your ideas are being heard and making them believe in your tactics and experience is a big step in reaching your goals as a team.
4. Be progressive. For this one I will use an example from fitness or sports in general. Do you know why you start slow when you go for the first time at the gym? The body needs to become aware of what’s going to happen, it needs to understand to send more energy to your arms to support weight lifting or into your legs if you’re running, but you need to do it gradually or you may get a big REJECT, translated in pains. Train your people one step at a time, because they need to be confident of what they can deliver.

Even if you managed to improve your team, don’t expect them to be as good as you are. Only ask things that are “askable” and start over with point #1 if needed.