My business/mission is being a guide for people so they realize the excellence they were born to achieve and helping organizations achieve their business goals by aligning a people strategy behind them (and helping to build the strategy on occassion). In my experience walking in to unfamiliar territory, I have developed an ear for certain words. Here is a short list:
- Crazy
- Narcicist
- Unreasonable
- Abnormal
- Wierd
- Bipolar
- Nuts
Get the idea? Sometimes I wonder how many people truly have a mental disorder, because it can feel like there is an epidemic in certain corporate settings. So I googled What percent of adults have a mental disorder?. This brought me to a site that shared the information that in any one year 28-30% of adults experience mental or addictive disorder. Of that group, only 5.4% have a serious disorder that is likely to last beyond a year.
Yesterday a friend shared with me the quote Nobody behaves well in the corner. Another way I say it is that stress does things to people that often are not very positive. Dr. Roger Birkman spent decades perfecting his own assessment along these lines that has become the Birkman Method. This is a tool I use to help people name the source of their stress and the resulting behavior. The Birkman Method provides input on both usual behavior (what people see), needs(mostly hidden, but identify preferred environment; clarify motivational needs, highlight inner strengths), and stress behavior(counter productive, frustrated actions). Here is an example of what these sound like:
Area: Relating one on one with others:
- Usual Behavior: Candid and matter-of-fact, minimal self-conscious feelings, outspoken and unevasive, at ease with superiors.
- Needs: Frank and direct relationships, genuine praise free of sentiment, direct/straight forward corrections and instructions, candor from superiors and associates
- Stress Behavior (happens when needs are not met): Inconsiderate in personal relationships, downplays the importance of personal needs of others, uncomfortable when relationships require sensitive understanding
Any of these sound familiar? When we back people into a corner (low resources, threat of job loss, inconsiderate teammates, no communication, lots of long hours) some strange behavior often results. The Birkman Method has been a great tool for leaders I work with to help them see the sources of their stress and deal with it.
There are some people that genuinely need professional help to address things they are feeling. But beware of labeling without first understanding. If someone is in a corner, that COULD BE the reason for their behavior.