Tag: trust

Shortcuts work

Fabrizio3 Comments

One problem with shortcuts is that they work.

If your sales are flatlining, a discount will probably boost them.

If you are nearing the deadline, cramming all the info you have in a format that is difficult to read will probably allow you to make it.

If you need more visitors, a catchy headline will probably get you more clicks.

If you want that bonus, you will probably get it with a good enough job.

If you want to be noticed, blabbering for 20 uninterrupted minutes in the next meeting will probably make people remember you.

Shortcuts work. And that’s pretty much where their utility ends.

They are not a basis for your next leap, a foundation on which you can build your future, a stone to step on to get closer to the change you wish to make.

Shortcuts are in the moment. And living one shortcut at a time can be an exhausting addiction.

Time to stop now.

Weakness

Fabrizio1 Comment

When you abuse your power and take advantage of those below you, you put your weakness on display.

When you pay someone one third of a fair salary just because they don’t know any better or they have no other choices.

When you share news that have negative impact on the receiver with a dry note.

When you ask for more despite knowing that a “no” would have negative consequences for the other.

When you point your finger towards someone who does not have it in them to counterargument.

Power is a responsibility towards those who don’t have as much.

Who are they serving?

FabrizioLeave a comment

Is your team serving a bigger purpose – the organisation and its values, the customer and their ambitions, the broader community and its needs?

Or is your team serving you?

Some questions to find out.

How often do you get pushback on your ideas?

What happens in meetings when you start talking?

How different do the solutions that get to you look like?

When is the last time you heard about a dissatisfaction?

If you don’t have time to review, are things delivered nonetheless?

Honest answers to these questions have the potential to make a huge difference.

Bans and productivity

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Is the workplace the best place to discuss societal and political issues? No.

Should societal and political discussions be banned from the workplace? Also, no.

The problem with a ban is that it rarely hits where it aims. You might want to curb animated discussions on your internal tools and you end up making your people feel less comfortable expressing themselves.

We do live in challenging times. Most issues are polarized. Most fail to see the greys. Most feel the only possibility is to be fully in or fully out. And if your people want to talk about a delicate issue, your role as a leader is not to direct the conversation towards the appropriate forums, but rather to sit down with them and provide a safe forum for the discussion to happen.

Even if that means a loss in productivity.

Contagious

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you decide to help someone, it might not go exactly as you anticipated.

They might not get what you wanted to help them achieve.

They might end up worse off.

They might not even use your help and go their own way.

They might take your help and use it with other people.

They might realize your help is not applicable.

They might feel as if they owe you and get stuck.

They might not be grateful.

They might not want help at all.

Yet, just by making the decision to help someone, you have put kindness out there. Kindness is contagious, and it is always worth it.