Why act with intent?

Babies and small children have instant reactions when things affect them. They cry if they are upset, they laugh when things make them happy.

Hopefully, as more mature humans, we no longer react when presented with certain situations in the workplace. Or do we?

We are conditioned to behave a certain way from birth. How we behave depends on how we have been brought up by our parents or other caregivers. It depends on the experiences we have in our lives and the culture we experience growing up. We do make decisions that change these behaviours as we get additional input – from school, friends, society in general, the media and the workplace but many remain in place our whole lives.

And although we no longer simply react to every situation like a small child (luckily!) we do react in ways that are based on these set behaviours. You could call these things our default behaviours. Default behaviours are the things that you might talk about by saying “Oh yeah, that’s just me.”

Some examples:

• Louise is always early. Her parents were always early. She was taught growing up that being late was rude. When her staff do not turn up to meetings on time, Louise is unhappy. This causes her to yell at her staff during one staff meeting.
• Harry likes to talk through problems. He has always done this. He often discusses work issues in the team area. This drives Kim crazy as they prefer to reflect on any problems in quiet. Harry doesn’t even realise that he is annoying Kim.

Both of these examples show people following their default behaviours. Perhaps they haven’t considered them or perhaps they are reacting rather than acting with intent.

People also have unconscious bias that affects the decision we make every day. What’s unconscious bias? The Australian National University defines Unconscious Bias as “the associations and automatic assumptions, negative or positive, that everyone makes about other people or groups of people based on cultural stereotypes, rather than careful considerations.

If you don’t think you have unconscious bias – consider undertaking the Harvard test…I think you will find you do!

What does all of this mean for you in the workplace? And how can you act with intent? Recognising that you have default behaviours is the first step! If you find yourself saying “Oh that’s just me!” stop and think about the behaviour. Work preference tests can also help here. Or talk to a trusted but honest friend. Strive to become self-aware!

Once you understand what your defaults are you can choose whether to use them or not. You can really act with intent.

Louise makes the most of being early to meetings by catch up on emails on her mobile device. Louise encourages staff to come to meetings on time by starting on time but tries not to yell about it.

Harry knows he has a tendency to talk through issues. So he often goes for coffee with Sam when he has a tricky work problem that he needs to talk through. Sometimes they even brainstorm ideas in the meeting room. Harry makes an effort not to talk all day at his desk.

Acting with intent – choosing your behaviour to best serve you and the situation.

And what about unconscious bias? What can you do about stuff you might not even know is happening? Accepting you have biases is a big step. Then introducing processes that check decisions can help. For more information see this article by the Australian Public Service Commission.

Coaching can help you to understand your default behaviours and encourage you to acknowledge your biases. It can ensure that you act with intent in the workplace – giving the best of yourself to get the best result. If you would like to talk about acting with intent in the workplace contact me.