HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER
Title: Perfectionism – curse or blessing?
Competency: coaching, performance management
Who benefits: all levels of management
Consultant Usage: highly recommended for professional coaches
What’s it about? Last week I reviewed a new book: Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It. One group of people who have a hard time “getting it†are perfectionists.Â
So this week when I came across a recent article entitled “How to Give Feedback to a Perfectionistâ€, I thought this would be a natural follow-up.   Â
I love the opening paragraph of the article: “Having a perfectionist on your team can be an asset. Perfectionists are driven to succeed, work hard to avoid mistakes, and are always striving to improve. Yet it can be a challenge to manage someone who needs everything to be perfect.â€
Author Jeff Szymanski goes on to offer 4 coaching tips in this short article:
-Be clear about your goals and expectations for their work.
-Encourage a perfectionist to share a work-in-progress with you.
-Perfectionists can be obsessed with not wanting to make mistakes.
-Sometimes perfectionists get stuck because they use the same strategies over and over again, even when they stop working or aren’t working in a particular context.
Each of these four tips is explained in clear and concise writing with practical recommendations. So if you have a perfectionist in the house … or in your house for that matter, be sure to read this short article.
If you would like to know more about perfectionists and perfectionism, the author also has a new book The Perfectionist’s Handbook: Take Risks, Invite Criticism, and Make the Most of Your Mistakes built around the following points:
-Distinguish between intention and strategy as a way of improving outcomes
-Identify diminishing returns and ways to redistribute your time and resources
-Make the most of mistakes rather than being preoccupied with trying to avoid them
-Learn to focus on your “Top 10” list as a way of getting the most out of your life
-Interact with others more effectively as a way of improving performance
-Establish more balance in your life
I would like to especially emphasize that if you or your organization is engaged in a 360 degree feedback system, you will likely have the responsibility of coaching one or more perfectionists in the process. From my own experiences I know coaching perfectionists can be difficult. The article and/or the book can help prepare you.
As I reread this review I realize it’s not perfect. But it gets the job done and it’s on time.Â
Catch you later.
[tags]perfectionists, perfectionism, coaching, executive coaching, 360 degree feedback, clueless, envisia, envisia learning, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]