Focus on the Situation/Issue/Behavior

A friend and mentor spent time with me a while back explaining some very simple principles, but principles that ended up shaping much of the way I approach life and work environments.

One of these is the principle of focusing on the situation/issue/behavior and not the person.

I write about such principles not because people don’t know them but because people fail to apply them.

This principle is simple as well but extremely important. We must work to do just that… focus on the situation, issue, or behavior… that’s the issue at hand. Yes, there is always a person or group of people behind things but it’s the foundational issues that we as leaders are responsible to extract.

Remember this… it’s the belief that’s most important to address, not the behavior. Behaviors, issues, and situations all stem from beliefs and understanding. If you’re able to address the foundation then the behavior change is simple.

Shifting belief is no easy task. But it is the leaders responsibility to invest well in people and helping them see these foundations is doing just that.

The other key point of this principle is the charge for the leader to pull out the core issue from the person. This is healthy conflict. This is also honoring to the person. It creates a level of separation between the action and the person. Criticism is difficult for many people to take and there is a healthy/honoring way to go about doing just that.

Simply give yourself a moment to process before address issues on your team and think how you might address the situation/issue/behavior without attacking the person.