Good Enough Vs Not Enough

“Warren, I’m frustrated with my team members. They are not performing up to my expectations. They are too slow to learn, and make so many mistakes. They are just not good enough. What should I do?” Asked Joanne (not real name).

“Hmm... I can feel your frustration. Let’s take a step back. Can you share with me what are the qualities you see in them when you get them on-board your team in the first place?” I asked.

Buildings are built with strong foundations before adding on the layers. We can’t fill a hole with no base. Without a good enough base, it will never be enough to fill the hole, and we will never be able to build up our teams. If the current level is not strong, not stable, not appreciated and not good enough, we cannot add on to the next level of growth.

Meet them where they are. Meet you where you are.  Many leaders who are frustrated by the performance of their team members are inevitably also frustrated with themselves. We set our expectations too high to where we think they should be yesterday without considering where they are right now. By dialing down on our expectations to where they are right now, the idea of "good enough" recalibrates us to a lesser, but very real virtues they already possess; from which the unreal hopes have made us overlook. 

Take a deep breathe, slow down, what are we grateful about our team right now.  Zoom out at the bigger picture. Appreciate more and celebrate more with who we are as a team and what we have right at this moment. Enjoy the pure presence. And then and only then, we move forward into our future to create our next chapter. Only with “good enough”, we can move on to the question “what’s next?” more powerfully. 

Good Enough may not be perfect, but it is the prerequisite to becoming better. When we start to see value in our team members and in ourselves, we can then start to add value and grow together.

Visit our web page at www.LeadersCreateLeaders.asia to explore more on how we can grow together.