Guilt Prone People Love EOS

Rich Lukesh writes an HR blog which I enjoy and to which I subscribe. I have referred to his posts before. Here is another one, entitled Guilt-Prone People are the Best Employees. You can read the whole article here.

The gist of the article is that there is a difference between Guilt-Prone and Shame-Prone people. “Although guilt and shame may seem quite similar to most people — and both are negative responses to knowing you did something wrong — the research recognized a crucial distinction between the two. Someone who feels guilty feels bad about a specific mistake and takes action to make amends. A person who is ashamed of a mistake feels bad about it and shrinks away from correcting the error. This distinction makes all the difference in who is willing to fix a wrong and who is willing to “sweep it under the rug.”

Leadership teams who embrace EOS to it’s fullest, and get the best ROI from using it, are those who are extremely open and honest. By that we mean they are willing to be vulnerable. They are willing to say things like,- “I made a mistake”, “I need help”, and “I was wrong”. Leaders who are able to feel guilt about issues and who seek help in correcting them solve issues quickly and permanently. They remove all the obstacles retarding the progress of the company in an effective and efficient manner. They gain traction every day for the business.

We EOS Implementers are guilt-prone. One of our Core Values is “Do What You Say”. And we hold ourselves accountable to it. Do you have a similar core value in your company? Do you live by it? Do you hire by it?

So maybe when introducing EOS to owners and leaders, I should ask the question – how guilt-prone are you? Or maybe when you are hiring employees, you should ask the same question? What do you think?

<span style="color: black;">Graphic credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/"><b><span style="color: #000099;">Purpleslog</span></b></a></span>