Establish Priorities for Your Team

Earlier this year I was coaching an FA.  The FA had gone through Phase 1 Supernova training but was still not where he wanted to be from an organization standpoint.  He liked his CSA a lot but didn’t feel that everything he needed to be done was getting done.  I asked him a question that I have asked many times in the past – “Does your CSA know what your priorities are?”  In a hesitant voice the FAs response was, “I think so”.  I asked him to answer three questions for me.

  1. If your CSA could only do one thing for you each day what would it be?
  2. If your CSA could only do two things for you each day what would they be?
  3. If your CSA could only do three things for you each day what would they be?

After a little thought he gave me the answers.

In a later meeting with his CSA present, I asked her three questions.

  1. If you could only do one thing for this FA each day, what would he want it to be?
  2. If you could only do two things for this FA each day, what would he want them to be?
  3. If you could only do three things for this FA each day, what would he want them to be?

How many of the CSA’s responses matched the FAs answers?  Only one and that was the third thing on  the list.  In other words, the CSA didn’t know the two most important things that the FA wanted done consistently each day.

If an FA reading this and you think your CSA knows your top 3 priorities, why don’t you make your list and see if your CSA’s list matches yours.  My experience tells me that they won’t.

Don’t force your CSA to be a mind reader.  Make sure that he or she knows what you think is most important.  Both of you will be happier and less stressed at the end of the day.

 

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