Summary:

Cary Simpson shares her insights on building high-performance teams. She emphasizes the importance of understanding that not everyone on the team will be like you and that individuals exist on a bell curve. The goal is to shift people to the positive end of the curve and help them reach their full potential. Cary also highlights the need to motivate those who are already motivated and to provide support and compassion to those facing challenges. She advises setting realistic expectations, offering tools for development, and allowing individuals to take ownership of their careers.

Key Takeaways:

1. Not everyone on your team will be like you; individuals exist on a bell curve.
2. Motivate those who are already motivated and provide support to those facing challenges.
3. Set realistic expectations, offer tools for development, and allow individuals to take ownership of their careers.

Timestamp

0:00:00 Introduction to the topic of building a high performance team

0:00:30 Introduction of guest speaker, Cary Simpson

0:01:48 Realization that not everyone is like you, team exists on a bell curve

0:04:16 How this realization should inform leadership style and team development

0:06:23 Danger of trying to fix someone who doesn't want to be fixed

0:07:03 Advice for resisting the urge to fix someone

0:08:45 Action plan for building a high performance team

0:11:03 Summary of the five steps in the action plan

0:12:28 Where to find Cary Simpson for further conversation

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The person that's going to help us.

Answer those two questions is joining us today. She's got a background that includes 20 years of sales, marketing, and leadership in the analytical chemistry and biology industry. She's been involved in selling capital equipment, renewables, and consumables,. So that's all a long way of saying, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but she's a big deal.

Carrie Simpson, welcome to the show.

Cary Simpson: Thank you.

Dr. Jim: Super pumped to have you on the show. And I know that I rushed through that intro. So the first things first, what did I miss?

Cary Simpson: Nothing that pretty much covers it. I've been doing sales and marketing and chemistry and biology for the better part of 20 years.

teams. I've managed managers of teams. My I'm a chemist at heart. My bachelor's is actually in chemistry. And I've never gotten away from that. I'm a little bit of a nerd, but I like the business side of things a little bit more.

Dr. Jim: The goal for these conversations that we're having is to provide leaders in small to midsize organizations, sort of a playbook that they can use to build high performing teams. So the question that I have for you, Carrie, and I'm going to ask you to minimize the amount of snark that you have in your answer.

So I know that's a big ask. So the question that I have for you. Is when you're thinking about building a high performance team, what was the game changing realization or discovery that you had that really helped you?

He was very data driven. He was very thoughtful. He was very business oriented also a scientist. And so I was very fortunate and who my mentor was to get to start out with. I think the thing that I was the sort of the game changer for me was this idea, when you first go into management typically you're a high performer, right?

People who are promoted into management from an individual contributor role tend to be the best on your team. And because you work hard, because you have that drive and that ambition, you tend to think that other people are like you. And 1 of the 1st things you learn as a leader is that when you have a team of people.

They don't necessarily look like you. And I don't mean just physically look like you. I'm not talking about sort of diversity and I'm talking about personality. Although diversity inclusion is part of that. So I think you have to acknowledge that your team is going to, exist on a bell curve.

Your goal is to shift people to the positive on that bell curve. You also have to accept that not everybody's going to make that shift.

Dr. Jim: That's a great starting point. And it brings up a ton of questions. So one of the things that I'm wondering when you have that realization that not everybody is going to be like you, everybody exists on a bell curve, and some people may not accept or be willing or be capable of.

Cary Simpson: I think something else that you have to acknowledge is that you cannot motivate people who don't want to be motivated. You can absolutely de motivate someone who is motivated. So your A players and your B players, those hardworking, motivated individuals. You have to get out of their way to understand that your goal that your role is their leader is to break down barriers and help them to be the best that they can be, and they will do it for you.

They're adults and they are entitled to make bad choices. And if you accept that and then work with the higher end of the bell curve, you're going to be a happier manager. But further to that, what you can do with the folks that are on the lower half of the bell curve is try and figure out why they're not motivated.

Is it a professional issue? Can you help to fix whatever that is? Is it a personal issue? That if you understand it, because they've shared it, is there anything that you can do to support them through your HR programs, et cetera? Are there things going on in their lives? that are just not going to be better.

And that kind of behavior, that kind of compassion, actually earns loyalty from the people that work for you. They're going to want to work for you. They're going to want to do their best for you because you've taken the time to understand them, meet them where they live and get them through whatever that tough spot is.

And then hopefully on the other side, you've got a motivated individual.

Dr. Jim: You said a lot there, but there's something interesting about what you said and you kept repeating the phrase fix. And the reason why I'm latching on to fix or improve, or however you want to use that is this your best sellers, or at least in my experience, the best sellers have always had this ability to.

Cary Simpson: You can spend too much time trying to fix something that doesn't want to be fixed. It's that simple. If you have individuals that are going to want to do things the way they're doing those things, the really, the only thing you can do is. Give them a number and let them sink or swim. And that's really hard for me, actually.

It's very hard for me to just acknowledge that a behavior is not going to get better. And step back and let it go. Because I, I personally want to help everyone be the best that they can be. And that's actually a struggle for me, but you can wind up just down a rabbit hole that you don't need to go down.

Cary Simpson: Set expectations. First of all, make sure that the expectations that you're setting are realistic. Set them, encourage them, provide the tools that they indicate that they need to achieve those expectations. And then let them be adults.

Dr. Jim: So let's apply what we've talked about so far and build an action plan to those new managers or even experienced managers who want to build high performing teams. How would you break down everything that you said into a framework that can be easily applied? Or relatively easily applied for those managers and leaders out there that are looking to build a high performance team,

And then draw another bell curve and draw where you think they could be, based on how hard they work based on how much they prospect based on if you're managing managers how much time they spend with their managers put them where you think they could be with the right time and development and effort.

And if you have a D player that on one bell curve is still a D player on the next bell curve, then you should provide them feedback, provide them expectations, let them know that they are that you are there for them and that you will be there for them and that, you are committed to their success.

Right? Is it within your company? Is it not within your company? I think these are all very reasonable conversations to have with adults. I keep going back to that. I don't mean to be condescending, but I think when we as leaders feel like it's our job to fix people or to make things better when they don't want to be made better, then we're treating them as children at some level.

And that's not a great use of your time. But when you have individuals on that bell curve that are C players that could be A players or B players that could be A players or A players that look like they're maybe going towards B or C, those are the folks that you want to spend time with. You really want to spend time with.

Are they're going to go?

Dr. Jim: That's great stuff, Carrie. If I'm summarizing what you just said, I identified 5 steps in that in what you just told us. Step 1, meet people where they are. That's where you draw your bell curve and you put them where your capability assessment has them. Step two is build a vision for yourself of where they could be.

And obviously communicate that vision to that person. Step three, offer the level of support that is consistent with where they are from a potential perspective, and also make sure your expectations are clear. Step four, make sure you don't quit on anybody, regardless of where they are on that spectrum.

Cary Simpson: That was a good job. Thank you.

Dr. Jim: All right. Awesome.

Thank you for attending my TED talk. All right. So Carrie before so this is a great conversation. I know we covered a lot of things in a short amount of time. If people want to follow up and and have a more detailed conversation, where can they find you?

Cary Simpson: I'm on LinkedIn.

I'm happy to speak with anyone.

Dr. Jim: Thanks for hanging out with us today. And for those of you who have listened to this conversation, hope you enjoyed the show.

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