When leading a team of any size, sharing our passion for our vision and strategic direction is vital. A leader must get everyone engaged and focused on achieving the team’s goals and taking the necessary actions to realize them.
At the same time, we cannot afford to believe we know all the answers. We must not become insulated from new thinking or ideas about how to improve.
Fresh insights can come from a variety of sources, both inside and outside our team. We must be willing to listen and apply what we learn.
New Perspectives Come from Many Places
It may sound trivial, but for as long I as I can remember I have asked people in all industries about their business and what’s working. Often what I learned was meaningful, and easily applied in my own business.
People who work in customer service can offer invaluable information, as well as managers and executives. There is much to be learned from asking simple questions.
If you observe other successful businesses, including your competitors, you can glean from them a myriad of insights and ideas.
Insights From the Inside
Often the most practical and exciting new ideas can come from the people who know your business best: your own team.
If we hire the best people, surely they must have good ideas. New employees can be a great source of information. It is important to encourage open discussion and to create a little “dynamic tension” as new ideas and boundaries are explored. Differing views should be encouraged.
Strong team members who have bought into your vision will usually come to similar conclusions when they have all the facts. Get all the relevant information on the table. Healthy debate can strengthen the team, generate better decisions, and ultimately result in stronger conviction about new directions.
Outside Insights from Different Sources
Outside our own doors, there are opportunities for further insights from third party sources. Even small companies benefit from an experienced advisory group or board. When outside people see our goals, objectives, strategies, and results, they can often provide a fresh perspective.
Sometimes we get so close to our own efforts that we can’t see the obvious issues or flaws. Presenting our strategies and results to respected peers can also help us feel a healthy amount of pressure, increasing our feeling of accountability. This keeps us appropriately on our toes.
Valuable insights also come from personal one-on-one coaching with an experienced, trusted advisor who is solely interested in helping us realize our personal goals and aspirations. Professional coaches help us stay intentionally focused on important aspects of our lives such as career, family, health, and whatever else we deem important. Coaches provide regular and frequent one-on-one sessions that keep us focused and accountable.
Mentors are another resource. A good mentor knows your business or industry. They have “been there and done that” so they are able to challenge your thinking and offer valuable insights and counsel. Coaching and mentoring can be just what we need to stay focused and on track, which makes it well worth the investment.
In my own life, there have been three people that I have considered mentors, as well as several others that I observed from afar. This second group of people served as great examples for me, although I never spoke to them face-to-face. I liked who they were, what they stood for, and how they conducted themselves, and I tried to apply what I saw in them to my own conduct.
Acting on the Information
If we know where to look, we can certainly be exposed to valuable insights, solid advice, and wise counsel. But at the end of the day we need to digest it and apply it. Learning from others, and then acting on that learning, is a test of our own confidence, humility, and maturity.
As leaders, we must be accountable for doing the right things, doing things right, and taking appropriate action.
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Tags: Action, Coaching, Counsel, Perspective
Jerry Baker began his career in the management development program at Ford Motor Company, later became a manager of budgets and analysis for Northrop Corporation, then furthered his management development as Deputy Director for the California Department of Commerce when Ronald Reagan was Governor.