Leadership, Management
As a leader, realize that your vantage point is different than your direct reports. You have a telescope (vision) and your employees have a microscope (details), hence they see and hear things you’re unable to and vice-versa.
For you to lead a successful team, you can’t rely exclusively on information that you possess. For optimal decision making, you have to listen to what’s being surfaced from your team and find a way to marry your information with theirs. This allows for a richer outcome and, in all honesty, a better world.
You have the ability to look far and wide, your team has the ability to zoom in.
Management
On my flight home somewhere over the Atlantic, one of the passengers commented “The service is good enough” and that triggered the following response and my dislike for the words “Good Enough”.
- Good enough is not good enough anymore
- Good enough is a sign of complacency
- Good enough is taking shortcuts vs putting in the reps
- Good enough is not courageous
- Good enough is mediocre
- Good enough is the enemy of great
- “Good enough will never change the world” – Usain Bolt
60 second reflection:
What one area do you want to stop settling for “good enough” and challenge yourself or your team to reach higher?
Management
How many of us have had a dialogue playing on repeat inside our heads, but we can’t seem to muster the courage to take the next step and share our thoughts with the intended person? Go ahead take 10 seconds to think about it: The first conversation that comes to your mind is the one I’m talking about.
Difficult conversations tend to be nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing, because they involve providing constructive feedback…however they’re the ones we often want (and need) to have to make us and our direct reports more successful. (more…)
Management
Feedback – How appropriate that the word begins with feed. Study after study indicates that employees are hungry for feedback. Conversely, a low feedback diet comes with many side effects including: Disengagement, Loss of opportunities, and the ultimate price “loss of talent”.
Framing your feedback is critical, specially if its constructive in nature. Consider following these guidelines to help get you comfortable. (more…)
