Nature or Nuture?


The degree in which you interact with colleagues may be driven by your natural interest to interact with others (nature) or the culture of your organization (nurture).  Each of these situations alone can significantly increase or reduce the degree in which you interact with your colleagues.

Imagine the impact to your visibility when you do not possess a natural interest to interact with colleagues and your organization’s culture does not support it – neither nature nor nurture are working in your favor.  When you possess a strong interest to interact with others and the culture of your organization supports such interaction, it’s magic!

Œ–  No time to interact with others + low interest.  Your interaction with others is limited to meetings and conference calls.  You are not interested in interacting with others and you justify that your low interaction is due to the lack of time you have at work to do anything but keep your “nose to the grindstone.”  You are at risk of becoming invisible in and irrelevant to your organization.

–  No time to interact with others + high interest.  While you possess a sincere interest to interact with others, the demands of your job and the culture of your organization are preventing you from doing so.  You are likely very frustrated by the requirements of your job, which is forcibly sequestering you in your office or workstation.  Unless you find a way to satisfy your interest to interact with others, your frustration will grow into dissatisfaction, affecting your work performance in negative ways.

–  A lot of time to interact with others + low interest.  Your job or work environment allows you many opportunities (as stated earlier, this is not unproductive time) to interact with others, yet you have little interest in doing so.  You are at risk of being viewed as an office hermit – reclusive, standoffish, and, at worst, misanthropic.  Your colleagues will demonstrate little patience for your behavior and you will quickly become irrelevant to your organization.

–  A lot of time to interact with others + high interest.  Your organization provides many opportunities to interact with colleagues and you take full advantage of these opportunities.  The high degree to which you interact with colleagues is driven by your interest in doing so.  You recognize the benefits of interacting with colleagues (i.e., increased knowledge, influence, productivity) and take advantage of your organization’s environment to do so.

Ed Evarts is the founder and president of Excellius Leadership Development, an organization focused on coaching mid- to senior- level leaders and their teams in business environments. With over twenty-five years of innovative leadership and management experience, Ed possesses the ability to build awareness, create action, and deliver results. Known for his business acumen, his ability to resolve complex human relations issues, and his enthusiastic, accessible and responsive style, Ed partners with managers, leaders and business teams to explore clarity and communication, and traverse conflict and change.

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