Are You Matched or Mismatched?
Welcome to this month’s L’Epée Coaching & Consulting Newsletter. A warm welcome to our newest readers, and as always, warm appreciation to our long-time readers. I hope you all are enjoying the wonderful Indian summer.
1. Career Management WorkshopAre you contemplating a career transition? Do you need to take stock, broaden your perspective, build confidence and gain clarity, and gain a clear sense of direction and desired financial rewards? Whether you want to carry out your current job more effectively, go for a promotion, size up new career options, take the plunge and go freelance, or set up your own business, this Career Assessment Workshop will help you through the process by supporting, inspiring and challenging you to clarify your game plan and take action.
2. Career Management ProgramThe first session of our Lunch & Learn Series on Networking with 2 mns Drill will be followed by How to market yourself with your Curriculum Vitae on October 22nd. It will give you the opportunity to identify your achievements and skills and learn how to translate those in your CV. This program is available in a lunch series format as well as through one-on-one coaching sessions. Look for a separate mailing with more information about this program. Should you have any immediate questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
3. Seminar for Czech and Slovak Key ManagersEdouard Stacke and Pavel Borovsky, associate consultants for 100 Ways company are experts in the field of coaching and as managers have a wealth of international experience in training and restructuring organizations. So as to share their experience with Czech and Slovak managers, they have organized a conference on October 13th from 6 to 8pm in Prague’s Hotel Mercure, as well as the seminar “Management and Coaching of Performance ” on October 14th and 15th at the Hotel Diplomat. For more information please email Katarina Bedrichova at bedrichova.abi.praha@volny.cz
Calendar
| October 6th | WIB – Women in Business dinner |
|---|---|
| October 13th | Edouard Stacke; Introduction conference: “Performance and management evolutions in Europe” |
| October 14th & 15th | Edouard Stacke; Seminar interenterprises: “Management and coaching of performance” |
| October 16th | Klub Personalistu Expertis: “Koucovani Tady a Tam” |
| October 21st | IWAP evening group |
| October 22nd | Career Lunch & Learn Series |
| October 25th | Career Assessment Workshop Part I |
| November 3rd | WIB – Women in Business dinner |
| November 8th | Career Assessment Workshop Part II |
| November 19th | Career Lunch & Learn Series |
| November 22nd | Effective Communication Workshop |
Communication Tip of the Month :
Are you Matched or Mismatched?
Working in a team can be both exciting and frustrating: Exciting when everyone understands the goals and strategy involved in attaining success; Frustrating when any team member sees an objective or strategy differently from the rest. Therefore, understanding how someone sees and analyzes a new challenge is vital to effective teamwork.
Generally people can be divided in to two groups according to the way they process and respond to new information. The first group is made up of those who constantly search for the familiar. People belonging to this group, who we can loosely call “matchers,” focus on the similarities between new and old experiences and have an inclination toward stability and security. When taken to an extreme, however, the matching personality can lead to obstinacy and inflexibility.
Alternatively, those who react to a new situation by searching for dissimilarities are called “mismatchers.” People with this type of behavioral pattern work best in an environment of constant change and variety. However, in its extreme, the mismatching pattern can often lead to conflict.
In certain professions, people are trained to think in a particular way and many jobs depend on an individual’s ability relate one situation to another, or, on the contrary, to search out inconsistencies. For example, an auditor is valued for his ability to uncover discrepancies as much as an accountant is respected for his ability to ensure congruence. In order to work effectively, a matcher or a mismatcher must be put into a suitable environment or frame of mind.
With matchers, it is important to emphasize mutual agreement and security and to overlook any differences, at least initially. Also bear in mind that a matcher is most comfortable at a job involving repetition. To persuade a matcher to do something, keep him in his comfort zone by talking about stability and continuity. Highlight similarities between your ideas and his background. The fact that what a matcher knows makes him feel secure may explain the terrific success of franchise restaurants.
Conversely, when dealing with mismatchers, play up the new, the different and the revolutionary. Talk about adventure and development. They value change and variety and are quickly bored when left standing still. Mismatchers are also extremely helpful in seeing what the rest of us don’t. However, their unique perspective can sometimes make them hard to deal with and, in extreme cases, can lead to adverse results. In fact, it may be necessary to play this polarity by asking a mismatcher for the opposite of what you really want.
Finally, it is worth knowing that all of us change our match and mismatch patterns to suit the situation we find ourselves in. By identifying our own patterns, and the patterns of those around us, we can adjust our communication style accordingly and get the best results from those we work with.
Yours truly,Karin