Interpersonal · Module 2.3
Where to Spend Your Energy
Most leaders try to get everyone on board at once. That is not where the leverage is. This resource walks through the 20-60-20 framework, then helps you map your own team, see where your time is actually going, and rebuild your week around the people who can genuinely move.
Understand the 20-60-20 split
When a change is announced, your team does not respond as one group. It splits, roughly, into three.
20%
Already on board
They see the need for the change and are ready to work. They bring energy and ideas without much convincing.
60%
Waiting to see
Skeptical, not resistant. They ask hard questions because they want this to work, not because they want it to fail.
20%
Will not move
Cynical rather than skeptical. Success, for them, often means watching the change fail.
The distinction that matters
Skeptical and cynical get treated as the same problem, and they are not. A skeptical person asks a hard question because they want a real answer. A cynical person has already decided the outcome, so no answer will satisfy them. Confusing the two means you spend real effort trying to convince people who were never going to move, while the group that could actually be won over gets ignored.
Once you can name which group someone is in, the next step is mapping your own team.
Map your team
Think through the people on your team right now, in the context of this specific change. Write each person into the group where they currently sit.
Top 20
Already on board
Middle 60
Skeptical, asking questions
Bottom 20
Cynical, will not move
Audit where your time has gone
Leaders tend to overspend on the bottom 20, because that is where the headaches are loudest. It rarely produces results. Look back at the last two weeks before answering.
Where did most of your one-on-one time and energy actually go?
Capture your answer in your own notes.
What did that time produce, if anything?
Capture your answer in your own notes.
Surface the middle 60’s real questions
The middle 60’s pushback is useful information, not a problem to manage. For each person you placed in the middle 60, write down the actual question or concern behind their hesitation.
In your own notes, list 2 to 3 people on the left with their real question on the right.
Optional · pause and practice
Rehearse a conversation with Sophia
If one of the questions above feels hard to answer well, this is a good moment to pause and rehearse it before the real conversation happens. Not required to continue.
Practice with SophiaFind leverage
Someone in your top 20 may be the most credible person to bring a specific middle-60 colleague along, more credible than you in that particular conversation. Pair them up.
In your own notes, list a champion on the left with the person they could bring along on the right.
Rebuild your week
Use what you just mapped to change where your time actually goes next week.
What is one thing you will spend less time on?
Capture your answer in your own notes.
What is one middle-60 conversation you will prioritize instead, and with whom?
Capture your answer in your own notes.
How will you use a top-20 champion to help this week?
Capture your answer in your own notes.