#WFH: Case in Point Acting with Autonomy?
In the virtual world, success means autonomy. Autonomy is about living our life for our own purposes, setting and enacting our own priorities, and being authentically productive so that we intentionally get things done. The company is not in charge. Acting with autonomy means a person oversees themselves. We govern our own life. The objective is to achieve results. The worker is not helpless, delinquent, untrustworthy or trying to get over on the company. The company is not only interested in profits, outputs, balance sheets and cutting costs. In the virtual environment, it is a partnership. A partnership that must be built on mutual understanding and support. How we create interactions requires thought and attention to intention. Interactions that are right in front of us and part of our daily life are available to us. In this way, we validate ourselves and others. This helps us all to attain mastery over ourselves and our lives.
| Case in Point: Janet Johnson | You just get off the phone with Janet Johnson. Your conversation is summarized below: |
“Janet! How are you today? I’m glad to hear you are doing well. I just wanted to follow up with you to see if you completed that proposal for the new client I promised them by Friday. I know how hard it can be for you to get everything done with your mom and the kids at home.
Ms. Johnson says “No, honestly I haven’t even had a chance to look at that mess. You keep giving me more to do every week. My mom was sick and had to go to the hospital and everyone is focused on helping her get better. I am not really worried about that proposal right now. I know it is important though.”
You can feel yourself getting angry. You agreed upon a deadline. Can you believe this? Doesn’t she put work first? Does she want to keep her job? It seems like she cannot accomplish anything. You have half a mind to just tell her, her job is on the line. What do you do? What conversations do you have?
Where do you start?
- How do you use active listening techniques? Questions Reflective? Responsive? Intuitive?
- Create a conversation between you and Janet Johnson that uses these techniques.
- If possible, get a colleague and role play this conversation. Then switch positions and repeat.
- Identify the benefits from this approach for leading and inspiring better performance.
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