Ask Don’t Tell Management – How To Produce Employee Responsibility As A Leader

Ask Don’t Tell Management – How To Produce Employee Responsibility As A Leader

By

Theodore Henderson

The Wisdom Man

NBA Legend Joe Dumars via Bleacherreport.com
NBA Legend Joe Dumars via Bleacherreport.com

 

To All Current and Future Leaders,

Your Challenge: You own and also run a business, however, your management skills are occasionally subpar. Your upper management team describes you as a “Softy,” due to the fact that you’re reluctant to discipline those that don’t adhere to company policies.You’re having difficulty with the head of Sales & Marketing. While he or she does generate new accounts, they continually enter them inaccurately as well as causing all sorts of problems for the production team. Your group keeps urging you to “give it to him or her,” yet you’re unsure what to say. Exactly how do you make this manager liable without merely “shooting” the person or threatening to terminate?  Don’t forget you are the owner and are being looked to set the tone for the company culture.

Your Solution: My Compliments and great work! You are already demonstrating excellent leadership and management wisdom by looking for options aside from threatening to fire someone. The culture of personal responsibility you desire to create in your company would certainly never ever develop from firing or always threatening to fire people, in any case. Exceptional leaders build accountability and also equip their workers by asking them the right type of questions. Yes, asking questions not shouting orders.  

My viewpoint of solid leadership is “ask, do not tell.” Although you have actually recognized the head of Sales & Marketing as causing the present troubles, ensure you have all the facts. This could be a terrific chance for you to build the attitude of responsibility — not just in this employee, however, in all your team members.

 

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I recommend holding a company-wide, or by department, conference, concentrating on the big picture of just how sales orders are handled. Utilize the situation with the head of Sales & Marketing as an illustration, and also ask, “Is this order processing flow a good example of just how this company operates?” One of two things will happen, either every person will certainly agree, or an intriguing discussion will ensue in between the disagreeing positions. Occasionally, and this is one of those instances, your duty as a leader is to avoid being the center of the discussion but rather you are the facilitator. 

The managers of your numerous divisions (even if you have a small business someone owns each department function such as Sales & Marketing) likely recognize the issues much better than you do, as well as it is perfectly okay to admit this. Enter the session with an open mind. Even if your employees begin by suggesting everything under their control is okay as well as blaming one another, they will eventually work through the issues. You might insert into the discussion pointed questions to keep everyone on track, yet try not to provide answers.

As soon as the team has determined the actual cause of the issues and also the individual(s) involved, start reviewing remedies. Ask merely, “How would you like to resolve this?” Even if you have options in mind, excellent leadership needs you to rely on others to develop their very own responses. If this is presumably the very first time you have undertaken this process, I suggest you remain in the meeting. Continuously ask questions, as well as, if asked your viewpoint, avoid providing it. Remind your supervisors that you trust them to run their areas of responsibility and meet revenue goals for the business, so surely you trust them to fix concerns, such as this. 

Going Forward:  At first, this whole procedure could be incredibly lengthy as well as frustrating for every person involved. Be positive that you are moving in the appropriate direction! Your team members will certainly soon become more energized as they really feel equipped, and also the time spent will certainly prove beneficial. By the end of this procedure, you as well will certainly find your strength and realize you constructed a responsible and accountable team by simply asking the proper questions to elicit solutions. Don’t forget: Don’t tell instead simply ask.

About The Author

Theodore Henderson is an Amazon best-selling author, Certified Social Media Security Professional Powered by CompTIA, and a Certified Leadership Coach.  He is the author of the business program for “Launching Your Great Business Idea,” “9 Simple Steps to Becoming a Strong Leader” and the Security eBook 30 Smart Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals aimed at owners of Smartphones, Mobile Devices, and also those who have significant online activities including Social Media, financial services, etc. He is available for keynotes, seminars, and workshops. He may be reached through www.TheodoreHenderson.com

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