Being Personally Stuck

Back in 2018, we wrote a short paper called Are You Stuck (5 min read), looking at self-awareness and how it impedes your ability to be in action. This is more prevalent today as demands for performance and results are at an all-time high, requiring more recovery.

This month we want to look at leading others that are stuck.

Leading a Team that is Stuck

Your role as a leader is to get the most out of your team and your people even when they are stuck, action is slowed or at a standstill, impacting efficiency and results.

The first step in moving someone from “Stuck to Action” is identifying it. We have a saying at Awesome Journey, if you can see it, you can name it, then you can transform it. So how does stuck show up?

In our people we will see:

1. Missed Deadlines or lateness
2. Poor performance
3. Lack of engagement
4. Vague and automatic speaking
5. Frustration, excuses, and the blame game

Which, as a team, impacts:

1. Trust
2. Performance
3. Results
4. Retention
5. Customer satisfaction

Which is why it is so important as a leader to lead through it.

So, now that we can identify it and name being “stuck,” we know how to support the individual in getting back into action or “Un-Stuck” so that we can get back to producing results (and increasing trust!).

What can you do as leader to support someone when they are stuck:

• Address it immediately: Do not ignore it. All leaders will go through a situation when someone is ‘Stuck.” What separates the good leaders is how fast they address it. Your role as a leader is to take action to support others in getting back into action. It seems like a simple line but “the faster you get into action, the faster they can too!”
• Get into a generative conversation. As humans, we have this gift of listening & speaking so let us use them with intention.
  • Ask thoughtful questions
  • Listen to serve vs. listening to fix
  • Do not make others small, wrong, or judged as you support them moving from stuck to action