High Skill- Low Will
The third quadrant is the high skill- low will group. These marketers have a lot of experience, they are skilled in different areas, and they are knowledgeable. However, without the willingness and motivation to use these skills, they can impact the general environment in a rather negative manner.
These individuals are known as blockers. They choose not to use their skills because they are not motivated. If you are this individual, ask yourself if this will serve you in the long term. What is taking away from your motivation? Is it the work environment, or the pay? Is it work that is not exciting? What should you do to change your mindset? What will bring you joy? Are you in the right place?
If you are managing a team member who is a blocker, find out what the issue is and drive some excitement their direction. It could be an opportunity to shadow a senior leader, lead a challenging project or a stretch role. Find out what will motivate this person and make it come alive for them.
Low Skill- Low Will
The final quadrant is the low skill- low will category. Marketers who are in this quadrant may either know that they lack skills or may not know they lack important skills. Once they are made aware of the skills gap, they may show signs of reluctance to change.
These individuals are called resistors. They resist change, they do not see why they should change and they may even believe they are quite fine as they are. From a career perspective, this is a dangerous place to be. Without willingness to change, one can get stuck and one may even find work performance is impacted negatively, making any chances for progression, very slim.
If you are managing a team member who is a resistor, it will be useful to have very direct conversations. In addition, you have to tell this team member what to do for all projects. This can end up draining you as a team leader, especially if the work doesn’ t really get done or has a lot of errors. Think very carefully if this person is the right person for your team.
Understanding the skill- will matrix can help you turn competence into clarity. Here’ s to building your marketing skills and having the willingness and motivation to drive your success to be what you know you can become.
Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia is a marketing practitioner and leadership coach with over 25 years’ experience in corporate and academia. You can commune with her via mail at: Info @ thrityengineer. org.
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