A oldie, but definitely a goodie, from the archives:
Download your copy at: https://www.leadershiptraction.com/articles/RainyDayWisdom.pdf.
Enjoy!
The thing about personal/professional development goals is this: If they’re too easy, people get bored by them; If they’re too difficult, people get unnerved by them.
Either extreme falls short of its intended aim. So the key in establishing quality goals is to have them sufficiently s-t-r-e-t-c-h the person, but not overwhelm them.
Here are three ways to do that with your staff:
Whatever way you choose, be sure to remind people that you are noticing whether they’re working on their goals (or not) … and watching their progress (or not).
In other words, help them keep their s-t-r-e-t-c-h goals top-of-mind so they actually DO stretch.
After all, the things we pay attention to are typically the things that actually get done.
There’s a real paradox in modern leadership – individual achievement is typically what brings us the recognition we need to get promoted into a leadership role, but it is our ability to help others succeed is what ultimately qualifies us to be a leader.
This sometimes means that you have to let others take credit for the good things that you help initiate/achieve.
And, while this may seem unfair at times, if you help enough people achieve enough success, you become known as someone who routinely helps others do good work.
As they say, what goes around comes around …
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P.S. Apologies that the image, above, represents two men as opposed to one man and one women – or two women and no men.
Much has been said about ‘brainstorming’ – and much actually misses the point!
Brainstorming is “a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group,” and is an excellent way to teach your staff how to think more creatively, constructively, deeply, widely, strategically, consistently and a variety of other adverbs that you’d like them to be able to do when they think through the issues and implications they face.
But when they don’t already know how to brainstorm effectively, what’s a boss to do?
Here are some quick and easy ways to keep the dialogue going:
If your staff has trouble brainstorming, you may want to INCREASE the amount of brainstorming they do. As people tend to engage more readily with issues that are already relevant to them, tell them you want to help them practice. Then ask them problems they’re having, what opportunities they see, what they’re worried will happen next and suggest you all just kick around some possibilities. Or you could just do it in stealth mode, by asking them, more readily, for THEIR views on a problem or opportunity that’s on your radar.
Remember, the point of the exercise is to get them comfortable with thinking out loud, more insightfully, more strategically, and in increasingly nuanced ways. So start with something other than your Number One high-profile priority. Brainstorming is a skill and to develop fully, skills must be practiced.So don’t worry if it’s slow-going at first. That’s natural.
Learning, after all, is an iterative process – one that brainstorming can definitely facilitate!
As a leader, the pressure to have all the answers is relentless. But trying to live up to that unrealistic expectation, in real-time, is likely more career-limiting than you realize.
It doesn’t take long to realize that always trying to be ‘the smartest person in the room’ can only lead to problems and missed opportunities – not to mention some significant, lasting limitations to your reputation as a leader:
So the limitations of boss-as-expert are clear, but how can you avoid it?
Well, a surprisingly simple solution is to to focus on – and proudly share – what you DON’T know!
In other words, rather than asserting you know the answer (even when you don’t) encourage your staff to engage in an Intelligent Debate about things to help you figure them out.
How? by asking them questions that encourage THEM to think and share THEIR views.
Yes, yes. I can hear what you’re thinking. And, realistically, you can’t expect people who you’ve effectively been trained NOT to think to suddenly be fountains of knowledge and insight. So you have to ‘prime the pump’ as it were.
Remember: Sometimes the best ideas come as improvements to a lesser idea. So don’t nay-say. Rather, encourage staff to generate as many ideas as possible and let the best ones just naturally percolate to the top. (LeadershipTraction clients can access a Six Thinking Hat Worksheet to help with this at www.leadershiptraction.com/clients/)
Remember, too: To start this process as early as possible – especially at first – so you don’t find yourself backed up against an immovable deadline or deliverable.
Yes, asking staff for their input helps THEM develop better thinking and planning skills. But it also helps YOU develop YOUR thinking and planning skills, too.
And the more adept they – and you – become at intelligent debate, the more you help EVERYONE:
Taken a step further, the more your staff practices Intelligent Debate in their discussions with you, the more likely they’ll practice it in their discussions without you. And wouldn’t THAT be a nice upgrade to see?!
A word of caution: Encouraging Intelligent Debate is NOT about adopting a ‘majority rules’ approach to decision-making. Why? Because as often as not, the majority lacks the vision and courage to truly ‘move the needle’.
Nor is it about giving all parties equal say in a decision. To wit, subject matter experts will likely have more insight as to downstream implications and unintended consequences of certain actions than those who lack such expertise. Ignore this at your peril because the Number One reason that seemingly good decisions turn out not to be is unintended consequences.
Insight and logic can be very, very helpful – especially when it’s insight and logic that you, yourself, haven’t thought of already.
So even if, ultimately, they’re still YOUR decisions to make, you’ll likely be able to make much BETTER decisions if you have others help you identify and evaluate the viable options.
And making better decisions is sort of the point of what you do, isn’t it?!
Your thoughts?
I am moved when clients – and people I’m just talking with – take a kernel of an idea I offer and make it their own:
All gratifying, indeed. But what’s even more so is when their kernels affect me:
A natural tendency of the busy and stressed is to put our heads down and plow forward. In doing so, however, we often miss the serendipity of reciprocity – those unscripted moments where we can (and do) help others, and they can (and do) help us, far more than we might realize. Such giving and receiving can be wonderfully rewarding, even when they have only a one-and-done quality to them. But when you consider that every interaction includes a kernel for long term and ongoing value, as well, it becomes increasingly clear that we must allow ourselves to share, and reflect on what’s shared, far more than we often do.
