The plan yesterday was for my wife and I to ski in the backcountry in the morning.
Then my 18yr old son was going to bring all the kids up to Alta in the afternoon and we would ski in the resort until it closed.
Plans went wrong.
In the parking lot before heading into the backcountry my wife’s brand new boot broke. Buckle: gone.
She sent me on my way climbing the mountain while she went to the ski shop to get a new boot.
Then my son texted:
“I got a flat tire on my bike ride. I’m trying to hitch-hike my way home.”
By the time he got home it was too late for them to come up to ski.
So my wife drove back up the canyon to come get me as I finished my backcountry tour.
I had a great day.
Everyone else…didn’t.
When you don’t have a great day with your VAs what’s your reaction?
Is it
“YOU’RE FIRED!”
Not a very good reaction.
Is it
“YOU DID THIS WRONG!!!”
Not going to help you build their trust in you.
Is it
“hmmm….I wonder what I did wrong here???”
YES! That’s the correct reaction.
Or even
“Hey, thanks for trying…here’s what I need you to do here…”
or (maybe this is the 5th time it’s not right)
“Hey, this isn’t working right. What’s keeping you from doing it like ‘this'” <– this is where you give examples of what you’re looking for.
The reaction where you look at the training you gave (or didn’t give) as the culprit is the one that builds their trust and will create a rock-star worker.
The reaction where you yell will create fear and hesitancy. Few Filipinos will be rock-stars when they worry about being yelled at.
I talk about this and a lot of other cultural variances in my book The Outsourcing Lever.
John