Everyone Has a Wiring Gap. Here Is How to Start Seeing It.

The Wiring Gap is foundational to every relationship we navigate at work, every team we are part of, and the pace of our career momentum. And it runs in both directions. We have one. And so does everyone around us.

Closing it requires understanding both sides. Which means learning to see how the people around us are wired, not just how we are wired ourselves.

In this episode of The Career Edge, Leslie Ferry walks listeners through a live exercise to start seeing exactly that. In real time. With one specific person in mind.

Three characteristics worth noticing about any teammate. Where they lean first. How they seem to make decisions. And what actually motivates them.

By the end of the episode, you will either know something about that person you had not articulated before, or you will have discovered that there are gaps in what you know. Either way, something shifts.

Start your own discovery at Zandra.app/wiringgap

Transcript

Welcome to The Career Edge, where we unpack how work actually works. I'm Leslie Ferry. We talk about the wiring gap a lot on this podcast, and there's a reason for it. Not as one topic among many, it is foundational to every relationship we navigate at work, to every team we're a part of, and to the pace of our career momentum. The wiring gap is the distance between who we intend to be at work.

And who others experience. That's it. Simple to say, profound in practice. And it's invisible until we know how to look for it. So today, that's exactly what we're going to do. Look for it together. I want you to think of one person you work with regularly, someone whose wiring you are genuinely curious about. It could be someone the relationship feels easy and friendly.

Or someone where it feels a little bit harder than it should. Either will work. Just pick one person and hold them in mind for the next few minutes. We're going to look at three specific things about them. Not to label them and not to put them in a box, but to start seeing them more clearly. The first thing worth noticing is where this person leans first when a new situation or challenge arrives.

Do they move toward the people side? Do they ask, how will this affect the team? Who needs to be involved? What does this mean for the people doing this work? Or do they move toward the task and results side first? What needs to get done? What is the outcome? How do we move forward with this? Neither is better But they are different. And that difference.

Shapes almost every interaction you have with them. So think about your person now. When something lands on the table, where do they go first? The people side or the task side? If you're not sure, think about the last meeting you were in together. What was the first question they asked? I'll give you a moment to think about this.

The second thing worth noticing is how this person moves towards a decision. Some people need time and information before they can commit. They ask questions, gather data, consider the downstream consequences. Moving before they feel ready

real discomfort. To someone wired differently, that process can feel like hesitation or even resistance, but it's not. It's just how they build confidence.

In a direction. Others read a situation quickly, form a view, and they're ready to act. Waiting feels like losing momentum to them. To someone wired differently, that speed can feel reckless and sometimes dismissive, but it's not. It's just how they think. So back to your teammate. How do they seem to make decisions? Do they need more information and time? Or are they ready to move quickly?

And how does that land on you personally?

The last question is important because how their decision making style lands on you tells you something about your own wiring too.

Take a moment with your teammate now.

The third characteristic is the deepest one and the most personal. What motivates this person at work? Some people are energized by public recognition, being seen, appreciated, and celebrated in front of their peers. That matters deeply to them. Some are driven by mastery and expertise. They want to be the person others turn to because of what they know and what they bring. Some are motivated by belonging, being a valued member of a close group.

where there is mutual respect and genuine connection. And some are driven by achievement. The challenge itself, the chance to push forward, solve something hard, and advance.

What do you think motivates the person that you're considering?

Take a moment with your person now. What do you think motivates them? And consider this. Are you assuming they are motivated by the same thing you are? That assumption is one of the most common sources of misreads at work.

Three characteristics and one person. And already, you might know something about them you didn't articulate before. Or you've discovered that there are gaps in what you know about them. That's the beginning of human knowledge discovery. It's not a framework you study once, but a practice of observing the people our work touches every day. Now imagine doing this for every teammate you work with regularly.

As our human knowledge of the people around us deepens, our reads of them become more accurate. Our interactions become more intentional. And the relationships that maybe once felt harder than they should be start to feel like something else entirely. Like flow. That's how work actually works. The thinking in these episodes is designed to provoke a question. Zandra is built to help you answer it personally.

in the context of your own work. Zandra.app/wiringgpp. Thanks for listening to the Career Edge. I'll see you next time.