¶ Intro / Opening
Welcome to the Revenue Builders Podcast with John McMahon and John Kaplan. This podcast is brought to you by Force Management. Forces solutions help companies meet the revenue goals that drive funding. and higher valuations. Today, a segment where McMahon and Kathleen talk about the importance of adaptability. This point is like so critical, this adaptability.
¶ The Misconception About Adaptability - Many professionals mistakenly see adaptability as a weakness rather than a strength
And the ability to handle change. I think what happens when people are going to other companies, I've always found, I think you're onto something really, really big. Because if I show myself as adaptable. This is some unfortunate thinking. If I show myself as adaptable, if I show myself as being able to handle change, in some weird way, it shows a weakness that I don't know what I should know.
So I'm going to put myself in a position of appearing like I know exactly what somebody is asking me at all times. And I've watched this movie a lot when people, especially today. When people move from company to company, it's easier to do that today than it was back in the day, you know, 30 years ago. If you were moving every two years in a career, that was a problem.
¶ The Evolution of Career Mobility - Job-hopping is no longer a red flag but an expectation in today's job market
Today, it's kind of an expectation. There's no judgment. That's just how a lot of people do that today. But what I feel is, here's what I see down the road. What I see down the road is that I ask questions like, Give me an example. I'm the interviewer. Give me an example of where you felt like your company didn't trust you. And that is a great question because I can back my way into these situations.
Where the answers that they give me was more about they were protecting maybe what they didn't know. And they didn't really feel comfortable. and open enough to receive coaching when i was coaching i always like to say this look it's not a problem not to know because i would when people would fight me i'd say look it's not a problem not to know
¶ "It's not a problem not to know, but it is a crime punishable by death not to do anything about it and not to ask."}
But it is a crime punishable by death not to be doing anything about it. And not to ask. Right. So I just wanted to make that point that you said, John. You know, it can show up as things like micromanagement. It can show up in things like trust. If you have any employees right now going into the new year and they're telling you like, you know, I don't.
giving you feedback like, I don't think that you trust me or there's micromanagement going on. Dig into that because that's a double-edged blade. It's a double-edged blade. There could be some things that you are doing that are causing them to say that. But oftentimes I also find that there are things that people are unwilling to divulge or just a bad comfort level. And it's so much wasted heat in that manager.
employee relationship where you're like fighting with an individual you're trying to help them and they're just constantly trying to buffer you so they don't have to talk about what they don't know. And I don't even know what that is because I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist or anything, but sometimes I wonder if they have some sort of issue. is whether it's insecurity or they have to be in control or they have to know or what it is that some people are not coachable. They just don't.
And they take it three times, the same coaching. And you really put a lot of time in them. And they never change. Yeah. You don't have that. That's why I think coachability and adaptability go together because. Well, number one, you have to be coachable. Then if you're coachable, now you actually have to have the courage to look in the mirror and say, I need to change. I need to adapt. And now you actually have to go through the motions of adapting.
¶ "Coachability and adaptability go together-you have to be coachable first, then courageous enough to change."
And for some people, that could be fearful. They could be scared of that. Well, Johnny, it's like when you think about it, there's people that spend a long period of time to figure out how to get a groove. or to get emotion. And I saw this in athletics, like the people that didn't want to learn a different way to do something because they knew how hard it was to get to the level that they were at.
But I also found those same individuals were the ones that really didn't reach their ceiling because they figured that they were at a point that they were at their best level. And then they kind of protected their best level. And I always found that those people really never met their potential. It's the people that were fantastic athletes or fantastic sellers. And it also bounces up against some of these other character traits like curiosity.
¶ "The best performers never protect their current level-they always push for what's next."
Curiosity is also related to this conversation. Those people that aren't adaptable and those people that aren't coachable sometimes are auditioning. In the same way as not being curious because they don't want to get into the dialogue about what would be different than we're already talking about. No doubt. Yeah. I've seen the movie. I'm with you. Really real. Picking up what you're dropping down.
¶ "Curiosity and adaptability are deeply connected-those unwilling to ask 'what if' often resist growth."
I have somebody that I love, love, that I've worked with for a long, long time. And I know that when they pull the trust card on me and they do it, and I know that that's their last resort with me. when they're feeling like they're getting pushed to a limit that they're uncomfortable with. It used to drive me nuts. I used to be like, how many times are you going to ask me if I trust you or not? It pisses me off. However, I realized that what they were really saying is, I'm really at my wall.
of my ability to adapt or change in the situation. So I really just, and they don't, they don't even know it. They just, they want you just to back off. And so then.
¶ "When employees pull the 'trust card,' it's often their last resort to avoid change."
Because this is about getting intimate, John. It's past the interview process. But it's going to show up later. Because, by the way, that person had that trait 20 years ago when I first met them. And they still have that trait now. It always shows up later. The things you missed in the interview process will show up six months later. I know them well now. And so it's my job as the leader to know, okay, when that card gets pulled, for example, on the trust card, it doesn't piss me off. I know.
that I am pushing them to a comfort level and I just bring it out. I just ask them. This segment is from the conversation with Chaz McLaughlin, CRO at Nucleus Security. They talk a lot about what makes a good hire and key signals to watch out for. It's a great episode and it's linked in the show notes. Check it out. Make it a great week.