A workplace environment has a profound influence, not only on individuals but also on our families and the world around us. Its impact on our well-being, productivity, and creativity is undeniable. This impact shapes our experiences and interactions, ultimately affecting our mental and emotional states. A supportive and inclusive workplace promotes collaboration and innovation. This can positively contribute to both an individual’s and organizations growth.
Nell Debevoise sits with Psychologist Dr. John Mervyn-Smith to discuss the importance of liberating individual differences within the workplace. Dr. John Mervyn-Smith takes us behind the curtains on the developmental process of The GC Index sharing his research findings and more.
Nell Derick Debevoise: What are some gender differences involving a person’s energy for impact?
Dr. John Mervyn-Smith: My work as an executive coach suggests that men and women differ when it comes to career decisions. Men typically, will see a job opportunity through the lens of: ‘I want to do that job’. Women will assess an opportunity in terms of: ‘I can do that job’. In terms of energy for impact then, the focus for women is upon feeling competent, the focus for men upon feeling engaged.
Nell Derick Debevoise: After research, what are some gender differences you have seen within the GC Index?
Dr. John Mervyn-Smith: When we examine our data base in terms of the distribution of the five GC Index proclivities, there are no significant differences relative to age, gender or country culture. It’s almost as if energy is simply energy; there is an even distribution that’s not dependent upon these variables.
The importance of this is evident when we find differences relative to different jobs or success within a role: certain roles attract and engage certain proclivities. So, for example, partners in professional services firms are significantly more likely to be Strategists.
Are examination of Game Changer has also revealed some thought-provoking findings. Specifically, when we look at Game Changers in organisations both men and women are equally represented at director level. When we look at the board however, male Game Changers are more strongly represented than females.
This may, in part, account for our finding that when it comes to business owners female Game Changers are more frequent than males Game Changers: are women more likely to ‘do their own thing’ in response to feeling frustrated in the corporate world?
Nell Derick Debevoise: What is the data saying about genders and HRD (Human Resource Development)?
Dr. John Mervyn-Smith: Our data tells us that female and male HRDs share high levels of energy as Strategists, an energy that is stronger than the general population: they have the potential to bring a ‘big picture’ perspective to the world of HR.
What was interesting is that men and women differed in terms of their “implementer” profile (their energy for getting things done). The women in our sample had significantly more energy than men in this regard.
I have discussed this finding with both female and male HRDs. The consensus was that hierarchical success for the women came from proving themselves as people who could ‘get things done’ as Implementers. For men, the view was that success reflected an ability to ‘see the big picture’ as Strategists.
The risk here, of course, is that women in these roles are recognised for their strategic contribution. As a general point, we see the value of The GCIndex as highlighting both actual and potential contributions to the world of work.
Nell Derick Debevoise: Have you done any research correlated to the success of a business and its traits?
Dr. John Mervyn-Smith: Consistent with my earlier comments, we often see start-ups founded by Game Changers: starting a business provides them with the freedom for creative expression that drives them.
However, it is often the case that they don’t have the same energy for ‘building’ a business with the infrastructure needed as a basis for sustained growth.
We now have a growing number of case studies from The GC Index community that reinforces an obvious point: that business success comes from harnessing a diversity of talents.
In the case of Game Changer startups we have seen the value of recruiting Strategist/Implementers to senior roles in order to build the business and free the Game Changer/Polisher founders so that they can pursue the possibilities of the future.
Nell Derick Debevoise: What are some of the favorite wins that you have seen from individuals utilizing the GC index?
Dr. John Mervyn-Smith: The GC Index mission is to help people, individuals, teams and organisations, to recognise, liberate, focus and harness human energy. There are a growing numbers of examples of how this works.
We all ‘sit on’, suppress and distort our energy and so I feel most excited when I see the power of The GC Index to liberate energy in a way that helps an individual feel more engaged and productive.
An example would be Vicky, a Jamaican woman working for a predominantly white male and hierarchical sports organisation. As a Game Changer Vicky had been very self-conscious about ‘standing out’ and being seen to be ‘different’ for all the wrong reasons. Sharing her GC Index profile with her supportive colleagues led to a liberation of her creative energy that, until that point, she feared would lead to her being see as ‘wacky’ and eccentric. As the only Game Changer in the team her creativity was needed and valued.
Nell Derick Debevoise: What would you say to the opinion that the approach of the GC index is a constraint or restriction ?
Dr. John Mervyn-Smith: It is a constraint when people hold one of two assumptions: first, that there is a ‘right’ way of being and second, that people can’t/don’t change.
The GCIndex profiles almost a 100,000 ‘ways of being’, of expressing energy; it is a celebration of diversity when it comes to the manifestation of energy.
And we know that people change. The GC Index brings meaning and focus to people who feel the need to change, who feel that their energy is ‘trapped’ by current ways of being.
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