Are You an Impact Player at Your Company?
Liz Wiseman, known for her studies on leadership and collective intelligence and cited among the world’s top 50 leadership thinkers, wrote an interesting book. Particularly based on how impact players in sports change the entire team, she describes how impact players at work can influence the whole business.
Impact players make significant contributions individually while having a substantial positive impact on the entire team. The author says that just like impact players in sports, stars at work have a certain style.
They are smart and able, with solid business ethics. Yet, just like impact players in athleticism, they also have various methods. They are mentally superior. This is reflected in many aspects, such as what kind of role they cast for themselves, how they work with their managers, how they deal with challenges and uncertainty, and how open they are to improvement…
Below, I offer a list of the properties and habits of impact players and how they behave. Would you want to be an IMPACT PLAYER too?
Liz Wiseman doesn’t talk about enthusiasm here. But enthusiasm for success at work is another highly significant and influential factor! It is known that an enthusiastic salesperson has multiple folds of sales success than ordinary sellers when all other conditions are the same. I always say that we owe our success to doing the same thing over and over again and doing it better every day. This is easier said than done. But, of course, if you can do it, you have a magic that makes you very powerful.
Once, on the second day of a market GOYA in Hejaz, everything I was offered was extraordinary. I asked: “Guys, how do you achieve this success by doing the same thing repeatedly every day and aiming for the better? Don’t you get bored of it? What is the secret of this dedication?” The reply I got was interesting and promising. I felt motivated again: “Oh, Mr. Ülker, on the contrary, we go back to our homes satisfied with our achievements, feeling happy, and saying ‘We will achieve good results again and do better tomorrow.’”
I wish the same for you…
Typical workers are not lazy; they are talented, diligent, and hardworking. They do their job well, follow instructions, take their job seriously, focus, and do what is expected of them. In many aspects, they are the kind of employees all managers would love to see as part of their team.
What impact players do differently is revealed in how they handle situations they can’t control. Typical employees act perfectly in ordinary situations. However, they easily get affected by uncertainty and remain useless. Impact players, on the other hand, directly jump into chaos, just like an experienced swimmer jumping into a big wave that is approaching. Change is not intimidating but intriguing for them. They deem problems to be a part of their job. Perhaps that is the real job. This is not just their job but everyone’s -this is how they see it.
Impact players react differently when faced with uncertainty
Impact players take action when others freeze. They see uncertainties as opportunities and react differently:
- Do the job that’s needed: When dealing with complex problems, impact players venture beyond their assigned jobs to tackle the real job that the organization needs. Other typical players adopt a narrower view of their role and only fulfill their regular responsibilities. While others do their job, impact players are doing the job that needs to be done.
- Step up/step back: When who’s in charge is unclear, impact players step up and lead. They get things started without waiting for orders or requests and include other players. In contrast, when roles are unclear, most players remain inactive, waiting to be told what to do and when to do it. While typical players wait for direction, impact players step up and lead.
- Finish stronger: Impact players tend to complete the job. Even when the process becomes challenging and they face unexpected problems, they finish what they started. Typical players, on the other hand, avoid this. When things get tough they either resort to higher levels or do nothing.
- Ask and adjust: Impact players adapt more rapidly than others to changing situations because they see them as opportunities for learning and growth. They try to manage change.
- Make work lighter: Impact players make things easier when their team is overwhelmed by increasing pressures and demands. They do this not by taking over others’ jobs but by working together in harmony. This reduces stress and creates a happy work environment.
Now, the decision is yours: Are you going to do your job or do the job that’s needed?
When managers were asked to measure the contribution of impact players, they reported a value of three times more contribution than their peers on average. Impact players tend to manage themselves and not only do they complete their job but also do it right. They complete it with nothing missing without being reminded of things, thus creating a feeling of reassurance and peace of mind in the organizations. Since they are the ones shaping the corporate culture, their colleagues respect and look up to them. As long as this loop goes on, the organization keeps investing in impact players.
Those who want to become impact players need to acquire the following habits:
Habit 1:
Learn about the game, what is your task?
Understand and pursue the objectives!
Know and observe the rules!
Empathize forward; view the job from the manager’s perspective.
Get onto the agenda because it is rarely written.
Habit 2:
Work where you are needed; focus not only on the task but also on the need.
Go after the problem: You gain more impact as you solve problems.
Habit 3:
Impact players who work with passion pursue corporate goals. They hold in their ambitions.
Things you need to do
Managers want to delegate a job to someone who will take care of it and carry it forward. So they don’t choose someone who constantly waits for directions. Managers assign significant tasks not to those who are talented but to those who are both talented and willing. Therefore:
Include yourself: If there is an opportunity to step up, the first step is to be where things happen. Usually, nobody will invite you. Go ahead and invite yourself. What opportunities are you missing while waiting for someone to discover and invite you?
Assume responsibility: Be a devoted employee who is easy to work with. Lead when needed.
Gain trust: Most leaders need people who will make the right choices. It would be wrong to ask for support from a colleague before being a part of the team or gaining trust.
Include others: Ask the right questions. If you want to find a solution, include people and shed light on the problem. Impact players can implicitly lead and create a shared perspective by leveraging the strength that arises from coming together. The implicit leader guides the team to take action and creates the impetus needed.
Step back: Be able to take a step back gracefully when needed. Become a versatile player who can lead, pass the ball, and share the victory.
Create heroes: Create opportunities for your teammates to shine. Help them stand out and lead your team to create multiple winners and potential leaders.
Follow others: Following others is the best way to lead but those who can do this are flexible leaders who are able to rise and withdraw depending on the circumstances. This is a radically different perspective than those of permanent leaders. When a career-focused manager is assigned a leadership role and becomes the boss, they act as if this is their role for life.
Traps and distracting factors
Sometimes we can miss the opportunity to contribute and lead because we want to respect the authority, not to be considered an uninvited guest, or not boss around.
Insisting on a team of equals is yet another trap. What do you think insisting on excessive peer collaboration can lead to?
Egalitarian teamwork can yield good results around a round table but things may get complicated when it is unclear who will plan the next meeting or contact other departments.
When roles are unclear, people get stuck. Collaboration and leadership are not far from each other. It is recommended to apply both at the same time. When there are playmakers in an organization, official authority is needed less because when people deal with problems that are bigger than they can handle, they sometimes refer them to a higher level rather than solving them. Meanwhile, some get distracted, discouraged, and stop altogether. They prefer avoiding challenging projects and refer them to higher levels. On the other hand, impact players ensure that the job is completed thoroughly and results are achieved despite unpredictable obstacles or challenges.
CONCLUSION
In studying impact players in her book, the author saw that they are people who have developed extraordinary mental skills to resist obstacles and overcome ordinary daily problems with a style of their own to solve problems that challenge the team’s mission.
Seeing something through and finishing what they started: This is an urge to succeed, which people who are focused, take ownership, and complete tasks without being reminded have. Unresolved problems and unachieved goals bother such people.
They are resilient and never give up. They pull themselves together after setbacks.
Here are the five traits of impact players:
- They take ownership,
- They are honest,
- They are easy to work with, sympathetic, friendly, and positive,
- They learn quickly,
- They reflect their strengths onto the job.
Maintain ownership: Impact players do not give up when faced with obstacles in messy situations they can’t control. They don’t back out when things get difficult.
Call for support: Most of us know when we need help but only a few like to ask for it. And, for many, it is a very unpleasant thing to do. Impact players, on the other hand, ask for advice or let others know that they need them to take action to proceed when they need support. It is important to act on time.
See the obstacles: Another way to overcome obstacles is to foresee them. By predicting problems, we can use them as steps to move forward. This makes us resilient.
What about myself?
Now, I would like to tell you how an impact player is made by sharing my own story:
When I started working at Ülker in Topkapı, I worked as a “nobody, nowhere” for a few years. I had no job, no title -not even a chair to sit on. But I used to pester everyone about everything. I was very curious and enthusiastic. The boss (my father) treated me this way so I would master the business.
I had claimed a stool in the windowless room where his assistants worked. I could work when one of them left the room. Eventually, when my cousins objected saying, “Uncle, this kid has no title but he is a nosy-parker,” I had to come up with a title for myself. I started calling myself the “Control Coordinator.” I was trying to learn and understand everything but had no authority. But I would eventually have that too.
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