SkillInside

  “The greatest good you can do another is not just share your riches, but to reveal him his own.” – Benjamin Franklin While I was at McKinsey, I was having trouble managing a new, very smart analyst fresh out of undergrad. A partner on the project took me aside and said,  “Let me teach you about the will skill matrix.” He whipped out a marker and drew a simple two by two with “will” on the vertical axis and “skill” on the horizontal, and labeled each axis low to high. He then said,  “Ok, the analyst you’re having issues with is in this box, high skill but low will. He will poison this team if you don’t do anything. When others start seeing somebody not engaged, they become disengaged. The best thing to do is have a stern talk with him about his will on this project.” Take a look at the will skill matrix visual below. That day, I sat down with the analyst for a heart-to-heart conversation. I mimicked the partner and drew the will skill matrix on a whiteboard. I laid it ou...