The Connection Magazine The Connection Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 19

started with TED, according to Emerald, is to
shift management’s philosophy to one of “Ask
first, tell second” rather than the reverse.
This means that when an employee presents a
question to the boss, rather than jump in with
the answer, the boss asks the employee what
he or she would do first and then adds to the
employee’s suggestions. The manager’s real
role, Emerald says, is to coach employees into
finding their own solutions to problems and
then support the employees in implementing
them.
When a manager encounters a truly
entrenched Victim who is hard to counsel, the
best approach is to acknowledge the difficulty
the employee is facing and then ask how the
employee chooses to solve this problem, given
the employee’s current reality. “It’s a matter of
redirecting the ones stuck in victimhood and
showing them how to create something great,”
he says. To instill a more positive mentality in
team members, Emerald recommends leading
by example, showing rather than merely telling
people the path to a more fulfilling life.
Another useful tenet of TED, according to
Emerald, is the notion of baby steps as comically
illustrated in the movie What About Bob? in
which Bill Murray’s character learns to take
baby steps toward growth as coached by his
psychotherapist, played by Richard Dreyfuss. In
actuality, small changes often are necessary in
order to achieve a bigger long-term goal. Change
does not happen overnight, which is why both
individuals and companies invest endless time
and energy to reach significant milestones.
Once the TED framework has permeated a
corporate culture, it becomes much easier to
indoctrinate new employees into how things are
done at a particular company. If applicants are
not good cultural fits for a company organized
around this framework, they simply will not get
the job no matter how good they look on paper.
On an individual level, personal change may be
more difficult to achieve. You can tell someone
repeatedly that there is a path to a happier and
more productive life, but if a paycheck isn’t
attached, the effort required to change is often
lacking. Those who do want to change—and I
hope my friend Vicki becomes one of them—
should recognize that the power to change lies
right at their feet. Then, all they need to do is to
take their first baby step forward.
SPRING 2017
2017
SPRING
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Emerald Womeldorff
is co-founder of the
Bainbridge
Leadership
Center (Bainbridge Island,
WA) and author (as David
Emerald) of The Power of
TED* (*The Empowerment
Dynamic), a best-selling
teaching story about Self
Leadership. His latest work
is on the 3 Vital Questions ™: Applying the Power
of TED* to Work and Life for use in organizations.
David is a frequent presenter and facilitator on
leadership topics, building collaboration and
various applications of the 3 Vital Questions ™ and
TED* (*The Empowerment Dynamic) ™ frameworks
drawn from on his 30 years of experience in
leadership and organization development.
Powerofted.com
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