Category: leadership

Not quite yet

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you give people space, they will grow to fill that space.

Give them a project, a question, a challenge, a responsibility, a team, and more often than not they will rise to the occasion. That’s how growth happen, after all. You might be spending time reading, attending classes, completing certification, and that is of limited value until you test what you have learned on the field.

For most organizations, though, the rule is not quite yet. It is never the right time to give space, as there is always something else that gets in the way.

The end of the quarter.

The launch of a new product.

An important acquisition.

The flattening of the curve.

The upcoming report.

What really gets in the way is fear. What if things will not turn out as planned? A better question, of course, would be: when do things turn out as planned? And an even better one: what is the worst thing that could happen?

If you can’t manage this type of uncertainty, you are a lazy manager in a lazy organization.

I am sure that is not what you want.

Little control

FabrizioLeave a comment

You have little control on the lives of others.

The way they act, what they feel, how they behave. What they are going to do. Whether they are happy or sad. Whether they are decent human beings or treat everyone unfairly. The choices they are going to make. How they are going to react to a bad turn of events. The impact they will have in the world.

The most you can hope for is to show a way. To give kindness and presence. To make mistakes and say you are sorry. To be sad and talk about it. To be happy and share the feeling with those you love. To play, laugh, and support.

At some point, you have to let go. Before that, be the best version of yourself.

What if

Fabrizio1 Comment

What if tomorrow, as leaders, we would make the decision to stop getting into employees’ way and let them free to self-organize and solve the problems they are hired to solve.

What if we would remove all rules and trust that people would actually do their job to the best of their ability.

What if we would decide to raise everyone’s salary, not because we have had a particularly brilliant year, not because we have reached all our targets, not because we have outperformed the competition, just because it is the right thing to do.

What if we would choose not to fire people when things don’t work, but actually challenge ourselves to find a way to make them work.

What if we would genuinely commit to work on our culture, and make that a reason why people come and stay.

What if we would agree that the measure of our success is the state in which we leave our teams when we move on, and more importantly how many leaders we helped developing.

What if we would make an intentional effort to build relationships, not with our peers, upper management, and executives, but with the people we aim to inspire and guide.

Just because you don’t know any other way, it does not mean there is no other way.

Changing mind

Fabrizio1 Comment

The effort we put in trying to explain we did not change our mind is puzzling.

You misunderstood.

They misunderstood.

You started executing without asking more questions first.

You should have challenged me on that.

The circumstances have changed.

The keyboard has eaten most of my words.

There was a lot of noise when we talked about this.

You assumed you knew, and you didn’t.

I wish you’d listen when I talk.

Changing mind is not the end of the world. Not being sure about what to do, and how to do it, and who should do it, is not the end of the world.

Spoiling a relationship to prove you are right. That is the end of the world.

Questions stick

FabrizioLeave a comment

Measure and report whatever you want, just make sure it provides an answer to a strategic question.

If the number you are sharing with your team is not a direct answer to a question, it is just a number, and I bet you will soon be tempted to report a different one when things do not go as well.

Questions stick, and they define where you are going.