What got you here, won't get you there

I recently read Marshall Goldsmiths great book “What got you here won’t get you there: How successful people become even more successful.” Marshall talks about the 20 mistakes we are making as leaders in business. I have to admit that I’m incredibly guilty of a LOT of these behaviors. Behavior #18 Punishing the messenger, for example. Have you ever had someone give you bad news and you go off?

I know you aren’t going off on them personally but you go off in general.

Example:

Customer Service Rep steps into my office and says…“Hey Kelley I have Janet on line one, she’s demanding to talk to you about a situation with a technician. I’m assuming it’s Bob since he was just out there last Tuesday.”

Me: “Bob told me she’s completely out of her mind, you know these people who demand to talk to the owner just so they can complain are ridiculous, that’s why I hired managers to handle these stupid complaints that can easily be solved, you wouldn’t walk into Target and DEMAND to talk to the owner…would you? I just don’t get it…Bob told me what happened and he completely took care of her, in fact he went above and beyond even what I would’ve done in this situation…I have no idea what the hell she wants to “TALK” about but yeah ok..I’ll talk to her…”

This is an example of Punishing the messenger. The customer service rep is just trying to do the job to the best of their ability and every time they bring you the phone I’m sure they are so excited to hear your little rant that it probably gives them a lot of unnecessary anxiety!! It’s a common behavior problem that can be fixed easily.

Instead of going into a rant and punishing the messenger, just say “Thank you” and then zip it. I know I’m so guilty of this and I didn’t even realize I was doing it!

Behavior #2 is adding too much value. An employee walks in with energy and excitement to share a new idea with you. Before they are even done sharing you’re adding to it! What if we did this or we did that! OR.. you shoot it down with a “Let me tell you why this won’t work.” How excited would you be to share your next big idea if this is how it was received from your boss? Probably not too excited.

We have an overwhelming desire to always add in our 2 cents. What we don’t realize is that we steal ownership from the person sharing. Instead of saying “here’s what would be even better” or “Yeah but did you think of this”… we could just say “Great idea!” and then shut our mouths. It’s hard to do but we have to ask ourselves, “Is what I’m about to say worth it?”

You may be able to add an additional 5% of value with your commentary on the whole situation or idea but is it worth stealing someone’s thunder over? The answer is no. As hard is it may be to keep our mouths shut it’s the best thing to do because it lets the person sharing own it. Just rejoice in the fact that you have someone on your team who is thinking about the betterment of the business! I know not everyone on the team is!

This book is a must read for anyone regardless of what they do for a living! I found myself saying “I do that!” more times than I’d like to admit and I’m sure I wasn’t being a good manager by displaying these behaviors with me team. Be sure to grab yourself a copy and take Marshalls expertise to heart. He has easy ways to correct this type of destructive behavior which makes you a better leader.

I hope you are enjoying this newsletter! Be sure to share the link with friends so they can subscribe and learn what you are learning! Happy New Year!!