Category: leadership

So tempting

FabrizioLeave a comment

It is so tempting to think you have the right solution.

To take things in your hands and ask of others that they do as you tell them.

To schedule just one more meeting and go through what everybody is doing, assign blame, share opinions, drive action.

To comment on everything as it is happening and inspire urgency.

To check, and double-check, and triple-check, and check just one more time.

To put people, projects, tasks into boxes and then complain that things are slow, siloed, not properly communicated.

It is so tempting to take ownership and control.

And it is the exact opposite of what you should do.

The bottom of it

FabrizioLeave a comment

When someone shares a thing they heard or saw, it’s not only that thing they are sharing. They are also sharing some of their expectations, emotions, opinions.

Keep that mind as you aim to getting to the bottom of it.

The greater good

FabrizioLeave a comment

Many use the greater good only when it matches their own good.

They want to avoid changing their ways.

They aim at pushing back a difficult conversation.

They prefer not to confront their own fault.

And so, they claim that it is for the good of the whole, that they cannot do otherwise, that it’s what makes the most sense.

It’s a cheap excuse to preserve their own comfort.

Easy or not

FabrizioLeave a comment

“That’s something we can very easily do.”

Perhaps it’s true, but the point is not whether something is easy or not. The point is what’s happening that’s keeping people from doing it.

Is it a lack of clarity on what matters?

Is it that you are overreaching and micromanaging?

Is it a lack of competence or confidence?

Is it poor resources?

Is it overwhelming expectations?

People are not inherently lazy or irresponsible, so if something easy is not getting done, ask yourself what you can correct in your own doing, before starting to look outside and push the target farther away.

Unfulfillment

FabrizioLeave a comment

There’s a time for praise and celebration, and there’s a time for requests, feedback, concern, criticism.

When the two get mixed, the enthusiasm quickly dies down and it just leaves a sense of unfulfillment and near-accomplishment.