347. How The Skill Will Matrix Changes Everything

You don't succeed by pretending everyone's elite - you do it by coaching the right people the right way. That's the Skill Will Matrix.

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There is one mistake that a lot of leaders and managers make - and they don’t even know it. I see it all the time. You’re probably doing it too.

We are going to put an end to it now, with this article. First, we need to talk about Tom Brady.

Tom Brady pretty much sucked as a college athlete.

He wasn’t drafted into the NFL until the 199th pick. The surprise wasn’t that he got drafted so late in the process - the surprise was that he got drafted at all.

Fast forward to today, and he is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback in history.

How did that transformation happen?

We’ll get there in a second. Before that, we have to talk about a different quarterback.

The Best Quarterback In Football

Have you heard of JaMarcus Russell?
I didn’t think so.

JaMarcus Russell was born to play football. His body, athleticism, and intuition made him the perfect specimen for the sport - exactly the opposite of Tom Brady.

As expected, JaMarcus Russell was the number 1 pick in the NFL draft.

But three years later, he was dropped from his team and never played professional football again. He is considered to be the worst #1 draft pick in NFL history.

Why?
Trust me, it’s all gonna make sense in a second.

The Skill Will Matrix

Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard met at Ohio State, where Paul taught a course on business management, and Ken took it.

Yada yada yada, and they became two of the most respected thinkers in the world of leadership and organizational behavior.

They came up with the idea of situational leadership, and that, among other things, led to the Skill Will Matrix.

The Skill Will Matrix is a tool that helps guide you in effectively managing your employees.

It’s kinda ingenious in its simplicity.
Tom Brady’s coach understood it. JaMarcus’ coach probably didn’t.

The 4 Quadrants Of The Skill Will Matrix

“Skill”, as you know, is your ability to do any given project.
“Will” is your motivation.

The Skill Will Matrix combines these two traits into a four-quadrant matrix that looks like this professionally designed example:

Here’s what each of the four quadrants on the matrix means.

Quadrant 1 - High Skill ✅, Low Will ❌

People who have the goods but not the desire. Maybe they’re burnt out. Maybe they don’t feel like they have a purpose. Either way, something is going on that should be addressed.

Quadrant 2 - High Skill ✅, High Will ✅

People who are experienced, skilled, and eager to get s**t done. 💥

Quadrant 3- Low Skill ❌, High Will ✅

These people want to succeed but don’t (yet) have a refined skillset for the task. They are often lower-level or new workers.

Quadrant 4 - Low Skill ❌, Low Will ❌

These folks have neither the ability nor the desire to do the job. That doesn’t mean they are useless. Then again, it doesn’t mean they’re not.

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Does all of that make sense?
Good, because this is where your leadership problem begins.

The Leadership Problem You Don’t Realize You’re Doing

The Skill Will Matrix seems pretty obvious, right?

I mean, you probably intuitively know that there are four different types of workers when it comes to skill and motivation.

So riddle me this, Rabbit, since you know the difference between the workers in each quadrant, why are you managing all of your employees the exact same way? 🤯

As a leadership coach, I’m fortunate enough to see all types of leadership behaviors in all types of companies.

One of the most common mistakes among leaders is managing all their employees as if they have the same level of skill and the same amount of will.

I work with one CEO at a mid-sized company who wants to believe all of his employees are high-skilled and high-willed. He acts like he has a company filled with Quadrant 2 people.

He doesn’t.

He treats everybody like they are highly skilled and motivated, and then he gets frustrated when they don’t perform the way he wants.

Go figure.

I work with another client who is a newly minted VP at a large company. She acts as if all of her employees don’t know how to do their job and don’t have the motivation to get it done. She treats them all like Quadrant 3 people (low skill, low will)

She micromanages everybody. She doesn’t give them the freedom to shine, and instead monitors every part of their process. In the end, she’s sucked all the motivation out of her team.

🤨 Do you manage all your people as if they fall into the same quadrant?

You probably do and don’t realize it.

Fortunately, there’s a fix for this. And that’s where Tom and JaMarcus come back into the picture.

Your Free Download Of The Skill Will Matrix. You’re Welcome.

To manage your people based on their skill level and motivation for the job, you first need to create a Skill Will Matrix. Fortunately, I did that for you. Who loves ya, baby?

Download the Skill Will Matrix here.

Next, print it and plot all of your people on the matrix.

Got it? Good.
Now here’s how to manage them.

Managing Your Employees The Skill Will Way

Quadrant 1 - High Skill ✅, Low Will ❌

How to Manage Them: Motivate them.

You need to uncover what motivates them. Find out their career or personal goals, then try to connect the job to how it will help them succeed. Acknowledge when they do good work and try to keep them on the path to success.

Beware though. Quadrant 1 is where JaMarcus Russell was. He was highly skilled but had an extremely low will to apply himself. He skipped training, didn’t listen to his coaches, and, eventually, that ended his career.

Do you have any JaMarcus Russells on your team?

Quadrant 2 - High Skill ✅, High Will ✅

How to Manage Them: Delegate

These are a leader’s dream team. Give them the responsibility and autonomy that they deserve, and let them soar. Just make sure you maintain those guardrails.

We all want a team full of Quadrant 2s. Unfortunately, that’s not how life works.

🦸🏼‍♀️ What percentage of your team are Q2s?

Quadrant 3 - Low Skill ❌, High Will ✅

How to Manage Them: Coach them.

These are your future rockstars. They have the drive but not the experience yet. Mentor them. Guide them. Focus on training and feedback - then watch them bloom.

Tom Brady is the prime example of a Quadrant 3 person. He didn’t have great skill, but his will to succeed was off the charts. He worked harder than almost everyone and, in the end, thanks to great coaching, he became a 7x Super Bowl champion.

📈 How many Q3s do you have?

Quadrant 4 - Low Skill ❌, Low Will ❌

How to Manage Them: Direct them.

These people need more of a high-touch management style. Tell them what needs to get done, when it needs to get done, and help them determine how to do it. Then hold them accountable for goodness’ sake.

Warning: Q4 employees usually shouldn’t last long in a company because they can drag down the motivation of the rest of the team.

😖 Do you have Quadrant 4 folks on your roster? Are they the ones you complain about the most?

When The Skill Will Matrix Works

Tom Brady became the GOAT not because of talent, but because someone coached the hell out of his will.

JaMarcus Russell?

He fizzled out not because of a lack of talent, but because nobody could coach the hell into his will.

You probably have a Tom and a JaMarcus on your team already.
The only question is whether you know how to nurture each one to success

Most leaders don’t.
Most leaders assume everyone operates like they do.
Most leaders manage every employee the same and then get frustrated when it doesn’t work.

Leadership is not about managing everyone the same. It’s about giving everyone what they need to succeed.

This is the beauty of the Skill Will Matrix.

You don’t win championships by pretending everyone is elite. You win by coaching the right people, in the right way, at the right time.

That’s how you turn more Tom Bradys into superheros - and stop your JaMarcus Russells from taking the rest of your team down with them.

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If this article resonates with you and you want to learn how to elevate your team, reach out to me -or upgrade your subscription and get free coaching and free advice!

A lot of leaders have challenges, I diagnose yours and tell you how to fix it after just one call.

My name is Jeff Matlow, I’m a 3x entrepreneur, author, and leadership coach to high-performing leaders. 

Let's talk.

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