Leadership Nudge 96 – Leaders Trust First
Today we will discuss the inter-relation between control – giving more control – more empowerment, and competence and clarity. In general, you want to move up and right on the graph toward the area where you have team members with more competence and clarity and you are giving more control.
The key is this: either we can build competence and clarity then say, “Oh, you are ready for more control!” Or, we can give more control first and and then fill in the competence and clarity! The way to rapidly change your organization is to give more control first. Leaders trust first.
Let’s say you are leading a research lab and you and your team have invented something new. You want to have some publicity, some communication about it. The leader could say to the team, “Hey, I want you to write these articles, post them here, here, and here, and include this information, and make sure it is 300 words!” The other option is this: the leaders could give their intentions. “Hey, how about coming up with some ideas for publicity?”
The team could then bring great information to the leader. The team has to trust that they have the competence and clarity. Without that trust they could just bog down the leader with questions. “Well what do you want me to write, where do you want me to post it, how long should it be?” Teams that think they have the competence and clarity use this as an opportunity to demonstrate that they do in fact have the competence and clarity. They respond with, “Great, we will go write some drafts and we’ll show you!”
That creates a bias toward action! Intent-Based Leadership® organizations share that characteristic. They are biased toward action and that creates a tremendous competitive advantage.
My leadership nudge to you this week is comes in two parts:
As a leader, trust first. Give your team the guidance, the INTENT, and let them demonstrate their competence. Trust that they can do it.
As a team member, when your team leader gives you a chance to demonstrate your competence and clarity, jump at the chance!
Let us know how it goes!
Enroll for the Leadership Nudge – www.davidmarquet.com
