EOS - Traction for Your Workplace Goals with Michele Mollard

(EOS Episode 18) More G-W-C: How To Know If Someone Truly Fits Their Role

• Michele Mollard

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In this episode of EOS-Traction for Your Workplace Goals, Implementer Michele Mollard unpacks G-W-C—get it, want it, capacity—as a practical lens to make better hiring, coaching, and seat-fit decisions. 

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EOS-Traction for Your Workplace Goals is a Livemic Communications production.


Richard Piet:

I'm Richard Piet. This is EOS, traction for your workplace goals. That's what we're working toward: having conversations about what would get you to the goals in your business for which you strive. Michelle Millard is a certified EOS implementer. It's her show. We're just here tapping in a little bit to this knowledge. And I should say there are a number of episodes here that maybe you haven't heard. So subscribe or scroll down. Maybe you're seeing a number of episodes on a page that you're clicking on. There are more there, and we invite you to check them out. And we should also say Michelle is available for consultation. In the show notes is a connection there that you can make if you have questions. Welcome back, Michelle.

Michele Mollard:

Yes, thank you for having me, Richard. This is always a fun time with you.

Richard Piet:

Well, uh, this is always insightful, I can say that, because uh these real-world examples about which we talk uh really are exactly that. And uh there's always some sort of light that goes on when I'm listening to this. Today we're talking about GWC. Yeah. And what does that mean?

Michele Mollard:

It stands for get it, want it, and capacity. So I'll dive into that a little bit. So when we are looking at our staff and our employees in a business, we want to evaluate whether they get the job, whether they want the job, and have the capacity to do the job. And so I want to dig into this a little bit more because sometimes we make uh employee decisions to hire, fire, reward, recognize, right? I would argue add repel a little bit too emotionally, right? And not that that we can't have a feeling for something, but I have oftentimes my employees say, I think they're doing okay. And I want to transition their brain from I think they're doing okay to I know they're doing okay. Oh, wow. And so this gets really deep on that I know that they get it, I know that they want it, and I know they have the capacity to do it. And so when we're doing this, there's lots of tools that play into this, but having an understanding, and if you're not running on a US, I'll I'll use it a little broad term, is if I look at a whole entire uh job description and I have their job description for me, I could ask them, and this is where this is a two-way street when I talk to my employees, not just me saying I know the answer, is do you get this job description? Do you want this job description? And do you have the capacity to do this? And so those of you that are running on EOS that are listening to this podcast, it's also the five roles, right? So on the accountability chart, we have these things called five roles, which is just a summary of the five important roles that that seat or that person does that then gets expanded upon into a job description. So both the people that might be listening to this and not listening to this that are familiar with and not familiar with it. And so let me describe, uh, Richard, because I know you're stewing on a question, I think, but let me describe what GWC really means. So they get it is in their head, do they intellectually get it? Right? Are they wired that way that they want it? And so, Richard, you and I have known each other a long time. I get it and want it for sales. Like I get it, I get the good and the bad that comes from it, the excitement and the downsides that come from it, uh, trying to execute and do the tasks that need to be done from it. And so I also have 25 years of capacity, of time, knowledge, skills, attributes for me to be able to do that arguably well. Like the jury's still out, uh, but arguably well. Um, but if people truly don't get the first two, they get it one, and it's not in their being, then I would say no matter what, you'll never get the capacity out of them. And so someone says to me, Michelle, go be a better salesperson, I will take the initiative to go do it because I get it and I want it. If somebody says, Michelle, go be a financial uh planner, go be a CPA, I will run away like the Dickens, and I probably should. Let's be on the record here. Let's go on the record that Michelle should never do anybody's books uh or anybody's CPA work, hence why I have those seats on my accountability chart filled. Right? Because I just don't get it. I just don't want it. I don't have the passion for it. It's not flying out of my body. And so therefore, I'm not gonna take the initiative to go after it. And so sometimes we say, Oh, they're lazy. I would arguably say, is it something to do with their wiring that they just don't get it and want it? So I'm gonna stop there because I know you've got some really great questions for me.

Richard Piet:

Well, the first thing that popped in my head is a story, a short story. Yes. Once upon a time, I went, uh I found myself unemployed. I think they say on the beach. Isn't that what they say? I see. And uh I had an opportunity for a job interview. It was in my skill set. Uh and I went and I sat down in front of the boss who uh for whom I would be working. Yes, and in the middle of the interview, he said, Are you ready? I don't think you want this job. And he was right. I didn't. And somehow he saw it in the conversation. And so uh that's sort of a weird turnaround because I had the capacity for it, but I really didn't want it. So I guess that means I didn't have the capacity. Is that true?

Michele Mollard:

Well, I think you had the capacity, um, because it's in our wheelhouse, but the want is something different, right? So the the capacity, you had the knowledge skills to be able to deliver on it. It's where's the where's the next, you know, like I I make fun of people that say I don't make fun of, um, give me 150%. What does that mean? Like I can give you 100%, right? So my point would be you have the capacity to do it, but you wouldn't give me the 150. It wouldn't be this unique ability. Strategic coach has called it a unique ability, this genetic encoding that is in your body to just drive forward for it. And so think about truly the want. Like, I always want ice cream, and I will do everything in my power to get it when I really, really want it. Like, there's nothing stopping me. There's no one gonna stop me. That's the want. That's what I'm talking about, right? And so somebody that don't have the get it want it, that have the capacity to have ice cream, they'll be like, oh, whenever I'll get to it. I'll have some ice cream sometime this week. I just want it every day.

Richard Piet:

Yes.

Michele Mollard:

That's what I wanted to relate to the people. It's a wiring, it's something that's like in you.

Richard Piet:

I get it now. And and a funny postscript. I ended up working with that interviewer years later, and it worked well, and we're still friends. So isn't that funny how the how how things come around again? Here's the other thing, probably the question you saw on my face. Uh, what if somewhere along the way a person in a position doesn't complete the job fully, or if there's a part of it for which they they're not meeting expectations, just a part of it. Does that mean they don't have the capacity?

Michele Mollard:

Not necessarily. And so I would say if they're get it and want it is there and deep and you know it, and there's a time period where they were performing and a time period now that they're not, it's a conversation. Because at some point they did. And so sometimes I think, oh, well, they just they just hit a rut and they're just they're gonna stink.

Richard Piet:

Yeah.

Michele Mollard:

Why are we making that decision so uh I would say quick, maybe irrationally, as opposed to having the conversation saying, hey, what's going on in your world because you were the top performer, you're here, and noticed a slump. And I I hate to say this, but gosh forbid, they're having something personal going on in their life. And right, and they have an ailing parent or an ill uh child that's ill, and they just haven't shared that with us. And they're just in this slump, going through a divorce, getting married, like let's go happy sides, right? There's lots of things that those take our distraction away. And so I I would arguably say it's usually sometimes about time. And so it's not time and getting you the 40 hours or giving you the 40 hours of work. They're distracted, so their time isn't there. So I'm giving you the 40 hours, I'm there, but my brain is thinking about the wedding and the flowers and the whatever. And I'm just not there, right? And so I think it's just a matter of having a conversation with your employees uh if they are in a slump. Now, sometimes they're it they're in a really big slump, and we have to figure out from an employer standpoint of how long we're gonna handle that. That's a whole nother story. But yeah, it it's so worth it to me if they're get it and want it has been there, and arguably I can still see it, to have a conversation, multiple conversations about, hey, what's going on? How can I help you? What are you stuck with? Own it as a leader to be able to walk them through that and help them through that. Because maybe they won't share what's going on personally, but you'll see something uh that you'll be able to have a conversation with. And so that could go into another whole podcast of, you know, let's humanize the exceptional, let's humanize our people and really get to know them. But that's a whole nother one.

Richard Piet:

So what this says to me is a uh a manager, a person who is now interpreting the GWC has to have some, I was gonna say training in this area, but has to have some kind of lens through which we look to to know, okay, I I see the G, I see the W, I see the C. Right. I mean, does this teach us this?

Michele Mollard:

Uh it does. Uh I would say uh experientially it teaches us, right? What I mean by that is your example is the gentleman says, I don't see your want. And if you'd say, Oh, well, I do want it, right? And you probably didn't lean in, like I just leaned in and and you didn't lean in. And so he was probably watching for a body language if he's well trained or just a human and saying, Oh, but I want it. And so we can tell by body language if it's like, yep, I want it. And then I fold my arms. So those of you that are probably just listening, you didn't know what I just did, but I leaned in, right? And that gives me an indication that I really do want it. And then if I lean back and be like, yeah, you're right, I don't want it. And so you can watch for those things, but I would arguably also just ask. Like, just ask, you know, share with me how much you want this, share with me that you get this. And I can tell you that if they do, there's no stopping them. Even if they're an introvert, they will talk because they do. They it's just it's ingrained with them, right? And how they do it. And so I don't think it takes masterful training uh on it. I do think it takes a little bit of EQ, right? Emotional intelligence to be able to pick up on some things and to ask. We call it enter the danger. If we enter into the thing that we're wondering, like he did with you, and saying, I just don't think you want it, we'll learn because you didn't, and then you reacted. And if you did, you would have leaned in and you would have proven to him that you wanted it. He was looking for that, in my opinion. I wasn't there.

Richard Piet:

That's interesting because an interviewer might just read the tea leaves, read the body language, and then say, thanks for coming, and and not press them on it, and then just lean back and look at their notes and say, hmm, I didn't feel it, I didn't see it. In this case, uh, he asked exactly what you're talking about. He just came out with it. I don't think you really want this. And it was an opportunity for me to say otherwise, as you say, but I didn't. I agreed with him. So uh that saved us a lot of time on both sides, didn't it?

Michele Mollard:

A lot of time. And I think that's what we're looking for too, right? And and I think when we have these conversations with employees about do you really get it, want it, capacity, you know, the capacity is one thing, right? So if they get it, want it, I'm gonna figure out a way to give them all the training they need, right? I'm gonna pour into them and say, do this course or you know, shadow this person or read this or do this. Like I am gonna give them as much as I possibly can because I know they want, they just may not know how to get the resources. But at the same time, it it's the conversation that's coming from it, we're almost doing them a favor. And so I I think if you look back now into your opportunity, I'm glad I didn't take it. And he was doing you a favor reading that. And so when we talk to our employees that have been there and they're just not performing, and we have the conversation around get it or want it, or even capacity. At the time, sometimes they don't see it. Uh, but at the time when it's all done, they do see it and be like, you know what? I am exhausted. This this position is exhausting me, not necessarily physically, but because my get it want it is there, I'm not putting in the 110%, 150%, or what even 100%. And so it's almost a relief. It's almost a point of, you know, they have one life to live. Go live it in a job that you have and you get it and that you want it and have the capacity to do it, right? There's the old adage, you won't work a day in your life as long as you love what you do. I have had one job. I was there six months. I have not worked a day in my life. I am 52 years old and I have I've worked six months out of all of that because I love what I do. I've always surrounded about what I get it and want it. And so I can't imagine there are employees, I know there are, in organizations that just don't have that feeling. And so we as managers can help them figure that out.

Richard Piet:

Is it possible that we see the GW and we expect the C and we're wrong?

Michele Mollard:

Yes. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's definitely an aptitude, right? Uh, of uh here, will we just use this? I may get it and want it to be a uh nuclear engineer, but I have zero skill set on being a nuclear engineer, right? I've read a lot of books and I've let, you know, like, right, and that's the whole, you don't have experience. There's a whole lot of conversations around there. Yes, there is that, but I do think there's so much of get it, want it. And if they do, they'll learn it and they'll take the initiative to go for it. But yes, there is times, there is a rare occasion that their get it want it is there, and they just don't have the knowledge, skills, or attributes, even if you've tried or if they've you know done certain things. Of course, the human brain in the human world can do that too.

Richard Piet:

Yeah. And this is part of the conversation that you have, I would imagine. When you meet new clients, they very well may have someone in a position that's not GWC, and now they're trying to sort that out. This is part of what you do.

Michele Mollard:

Yeah. And I think if I may, I know uh we want to wrap this thing up, but there's also the concept in capacity called time. And so sometimes we have somebody who gets it, wants it, and has all the knowledge and skills about it. Just they're working 70 hours, right? And so we're not even looking at this from a capacity standpoint of when are they gonna get burnt out?

Richard Piet:

Yeah.

Michele Mollard:

Right. And so really looking at that too. And so there's time that has um that they just don't have the time to put it in there, right? And so they can work 70 hours for a period of time, uh, and that's all great, but but sometimes that will get burnt out. And so you'll think it's their get it and want it that's deteriorating, and it's not, they're exhausted, they're burnt out. And so hence going back to the middle of this conversation, going, have a conversation with them and saying, What's happening? And they may say, I have been working 70 hours for three months, I am missing my kids' baseball games, I can't keep doing this. It's not that I don't want to, I just can't, right? Where am I at? And so I know we went a little over on time there, but I wanted to sneak that in, that it's really important to think about that too.

Richard Piet:

That's part of the capacity conversation. GWC. It sounds like three little letters, but there's a lot behind that, as you've begun to hear from Michelle Millard, certified EOS implementer. Sound like maybe you'd like to have a conversation in ABC to get things started, maybe. With Michelle, just look in the show notes and click through and make contact. Meanwhile, you're invited to subscribe to EOS traction for your workplace goals, so you're alerted when these episodes drop. Thanks, Michelle. We'll see you next time.

Michele Mollard:

Thank you, Richard. See you next time.