Crossroads Professional Coaching

Somewhere along the way, I realized the attitude problem I was dealing with at work… was me.

Not the difficult colleague. Not the underperformer I was covering for. Me.

I had let the gap between my expectations and other people's reality turn into low-grade resentment. And I was leading from that frustration without even realizing it.

High performers, this one's for us. The drive that makes us good is the same thing that can make us really hard to be around when we're not keeping it in check.

Jim wrote more about this one — link in the comments. Worth a read if you manage people.

I want to tell you about Josh.

Josh worked for me when I was running a sales region. Customers loved him. He was reliable, loyal, and knew his stuff. We trusted him with a couple of the biggest accounts we had.

He wasn’t perfect. Presentations weren’t his strength. So his manager and I stepped in where needed. We joined meetings. We cleaned up decks. It wasn’t textbook, but it worked.

For a long time, it worked.

Then something shifted. Not with the customer. They were still happy. But internally, things started to wear down. His manager was getting frustrated. I noticed my attitude changing too. Instead of being glad to see him, I found myself thinking, what now?

Josh hadn’t changed. I had.

I had to face something I didn’t like. I was expecting Josh to be more like me. And when he kept being himself, I stopped seeing what he did well. I focused on what he didn’t do well. I pulled his manager into that mindset, and before long the tension was everywhere.

Here’s the truth. Josh was still doing a great job. Those same big accounts were still in good hands years later. We eventually got back on track. Not because Josh changed, but because we did. We adjusted our perspective and recognized what was already working.

I’ve had a lot of “Josh” moments over the years. Most leaders have.

High performers have to guard their mindset. The same drive that helps you win can also make you overly critical if you’re not paying attention.

So let me ask you.

Who’s your Josh right now?