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October 15, 2007 11:17 - Listen, Hear and Make the Right Decisions
It's great to have such a good relationship with your people that they feel able to suggest new ideas and, well, contribute much more than you might expect.
A challenge arises when you have ideas that you feel won't work, yet you want to maintain the generative nature of the relationship you have coming upwards from your team.
Does this become impossible to maintain as you reject their input because, seemingly, you know better?
Possibly.
There are ways to acknowledge great and useful input.
* You accept and act on the idea - you win, they win and the business wins. You really acknowledge their contribution, publicly where appropriate.
* You hear an idea and although you aren't quite sure about it, you let it roll and see what happens, protecting the individual by helping them learn from the outcome and not, under any circumstances, ridiculing them or saying 'I told you so'.
* You consider and reject the idea - here it's very important to talk through your decision, recognizing the valuable contribution they made and encouraging them to make more.
* You reject their input and go your own way - this will, over a relatively short period of time, stop the contributions and alienate your people.
Ultimately you have to decide - that's one of your roles. Recognizing that you don't know everything, nor do you have a remit from above to have all the best ideas opens you up to a team collaborative design that will help you a lot.
And that makes for a great team too.
October 16, 2007 23:32 - Management Snippets - Everyone Counts
The loudest to shout; the popular; the experienced; the boss even.
We listen to them all. We pay attention to them and often we take their side. We support their ideas.
Yet what about the quiet ones. Maybe the new; the unpopular; the argumentative people in (or out of) our team?
Taking into account those who are less likely to speak up or who, when they do, seem to make little sense, is a very challenging way forward.
And yet so often, by seeking a better understanding of where they are coming from and seeking depth to their suggestions, radical new solutions emerge.
By encouraging and supporting the sometimes hidden opinions of minorities, much value will come.
October 20, 2007 14:29 - Management Snippets - Jack Welch's Six Rules For Success
- Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it were
- Be candid with everyone
- Don't manage, lead
- Change before you have to
- If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete
- Control your own destiny, or someone else will
Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric
October 30, 2007 09:41 - Management Snippets - Getting Ready for GO!
Opportunities come and go for your people. Often you don't have the control of when these will happen.
Yet you can prepare them for the
next steps in their career that will eventually arise.
By pro-actively supporting your people for their futures, you will make the transitions that will
inevitably happen, sometimes quite unexpectedly, for your business, much, much smoother.
By taking the time to stretch and challenge your
people gradually, you will ensure that you have capable people ready to fill the spaces as they arise.
It will be less crisis and chaos; more
organization, motivation and order.
Your business will not suffer the challenges when great employees leave, nor will your 'bubbling under' people
lose faith in the organization to give them the scope of career development they desire.
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