Do you think like an employee, manager or owner?

Consider the people with whom you interact, at work, home, or social and community engagements. Can you think of any individuals who communicate really well? How about those who are really bad communicators?  What makes them good or bad communicators -- what do they do differently?

When I observe the individuals in my life and take into account how they act or react to discussions and interactions, three different types of mindsets emerge:  the employee, the manager and the owner.  How do these mindsets present themselves?  Ultimately, it is the approach taken when constructing messages.  How a message is shaped impacts how the message is received.  Message construction is the determining factor that influences every interaction we encounter.  It can mean the difference between a break-up and a make-up; a compliment or an insult; a promotion or a demotion. Let’s explore how an individual representing each of these mentalities package this message; the message is “my work is not done”; I'll use a scenario which often occurs in my classroom as an example, but feel free to extrapolate to examples that represent your own work environment.

Explore each of the mentalities below.   Can you see the difference in how each mentality constructs each message?  This process involves careful consideration of the communication process; speaker, message and recipient. The extent to which each mentality considers or fails to consider each element of the process ultimately determines how the recipient responds.  Which mentality best describes you?

EMPLOYEE:  

Description: Realizes a message needs to be sent and sends it hastily with  little thought and if thought exists, it tends to be self-centered. 

Breakdown: The majority of messages produced by people use the EMPLOYEE mentality.  The employee mentality is message in, message out; literally diarrhea of the hand (written) or mouth (verbal).  Words just flow with little to no cognitive process incorporated.   These messages need some serious fiber!  When a student, who thinks like an employee, is asked to write a paper, they just write.  Rather than quality of content, they literally look at the number of pages required and keep trying for another paragraph until the required length is reached; much like an employee just trying to do the time to get the paycheck.   When answering a question they just respond.  Little thought is given regarding the substance, or the impact, of the response to the audience.  Suppose a student operating with the EMPLOYEE mentality needs to convey the message “my work is not done”.

This student would simply ask the question right in the middle of class.  “Teacher, I forgot my cards, can I deliver my speech on Wednesday?”  No thought was given to the impact, timing or relevance this information would have on the audience or the position they put the instructor in. If I, as the instructor say, “Sure no problem” then I set the precedent that every other student can offer the same excuse and get the same response.  If I respond, "No it was supposed to be done today you can either fail or deliver!", tshe rest of my students might be intimidated; at the very least it adds stress to an already stressful experience – presenting a speech.  As the receiver of the message, I'm put in a very awkward position. This question is very self-centered and inconsiderate to me and literally stole precious class time for which other students paid good money.  No thought was given to how to package this message for the recipient.

MANAGER: 

Description: Considers the message – they organize it in some way, most often by naming it.

“Oh, look, message ‘A’.”

Breakdown: In my estimation, about 20% of any given group uses the MANAGER mentality to construct messages.  Meaning, before they spout out or write down content, they momentarily collect their thoughts and organize them to some degree, by placing a name on information that shares a relationship.  For instance if they are doing an informative speech they would outline their thoughts briefly before they begin the writing process.  Not a bad approach at all.  In the scenario presented above, this student when needing to convey the message, “my work is not done”, would, rather than ask the question in front of the class, approach me privately with an explanation of sorts (i.e., my dog ate my homework) requesting a variance.  Little to no responsibility for their missing work is conveyed in the message; however, the message is packaged and delivered to the intended recipient. 

OWNER: 

Description: An owner realizes the message needs to be sent. They know there are many ways to send it. They consider the ways that work for this message and send it using the best available!

“Hmmm, this message needs to be sent. I wonder … what is the best way to package this message so that it is readily accepted by the recipient?

Breakdown: Few individuals think like owners.  OWNER mentality involves evaluating the purpose for the message, considering how best to package the message before they act or react.  When given an essay to write or announcement to be made, they jot down various different approaches to solve the problem; they consider their intended audience and determine the best way to organize the message given their purpose; then they construct the message (with great ease I might add because they are clear on their direction and strategy to resolve the problem).  When this student attempts to communicate the message, “my work is not done”, they carefully consider how to best approach the situation. This student begins by approaching me privately, “Coach, my apologies, I am not prepared for my speech today. I mean no disrespect and understand that this impacts our class schedule. I understand that there should be consequences and that it may not even be possible for me to present at a later date. Please let me know if you would consider allowing me this opportunity. I promise that I will be ready!”

Not only does this individual package the message appropriately by accepting responsibility and eliminating the belabored excuses (because they know the instructor has heard it all before); but also they carefully considered the right time to deliver the message to the intended target – and didn’t demand an immediate response.

Activity:

We all probably subscribe to each of these mentalities at some point when we communicate. Let’s take a moment to explore:

1. Think of a time when you thought like an EMPLOYEE, MANAGER and OWNER What was the message you needed to send? How did you construct it? How was it received?
2. Which mentality do you employ most often? Which do you use least often?
3. What factors related to the message determined which mentality you used?

Hopefully, you found that on more important decisions, you employ the tactics of an OWNER mentality. The extent to which we employ these different mentalities can ultimately determine our circumstances in life!  Before you send a message, take the time to consciously consider what you want from the interaction and if that approach will be best received by your audience.  Design your messages with care, take ownership of the messages you send to yourself and others.