I know that we were supposed to have learned everything
we needed to know in Kindergarten. It’s hard to argue with
sharing, saying “thank you” and playing nice.
However, from a leadership point of view, I think we need
to look a little farther down the road. I know teenagers may
seem like an unlikely source of business wisdom. However,
if you pay attention, their messages are right on. More
importantly, they are simple and to the point:
- So what?
- Yeah Mom, I’ll do it later
- No way—I’m not doing that!
- Are we there yet?
- How will I ever use this when I grow up?
- You just don’t know what it’s like for kids today
- Is that it?
Try to bring a little more of that “inner” teenager to work
with you. Just leave the iPod at home.
So what?
Great leaders create meaning and purpose for their people.
Don’t just bark out orders. Help people understand the big
picture. People will rally around purpose more than they
will a task.
Yeah Mom, I’ll do it later
You can’t do everything. Some things matter more than
others. Keep the 80/20 rule in mind. Eighty percent of the
value you create comes from twenty percent of your effort.
Prioritize your work to ensure that you are doing the most
important things for yourself and for your organization. Put
off those things that are not critical to the organization’s
success.
No way – I’m not doing that
Learn to say ‘no’ and mean it. Protect your time, and more
importantly, your team’s time. Keep the administrative and
busy work to a minimum if you can’t eliminate it entirely.
Are we there yet?
Teenagers don’t care about the plane trip, they just want to
get to the beach. Your boss and customers are similar.
They don’t care about all the stuff you “do”, it is what you
accomplish that gets noticed. Stay focused on results–don’t
just get caught up in activity.
How will I ever use this when I grow up?
Your people’s time is valuable. It might be nice for them to
learn your company’s history during orientation, but it
probably won’t help them do their job better. Understand
what is keeping your people from performing and focus on
that. Keep the “interesting” stuff to a minimum and make it
available off-line–if they want to read it.
You don’t know what it’s like for kids today
You probably don’t. What motivates you might not motivate others. Their goals
are probably not the same as yours. Treat each person as
individual. Talk to your people directly. Don’t rely on your
managers and supervisors to give you the scoop. And, don’t
let the employee survey be your main source of input from
your team. Get to know them yourself.
Is that it?
Your kids want complete solutions. They want the MP3
player, the music downloads, the leather carrying case, the
skins, and the rapid-charger. Your business needs complete
solutions. If a problem is worth solving, it’s worth solving
completely. Don’t cut corners or skimp. It is better to have
one problem fully solved than five problems partially
solved. The partial solutions often breed new problems of
their own.
Following the wisdom of a teenager can greatly improve
your communication, team effectiveness, and overall
impact. Of course, there are probably a few things that your
teenagers can learn from you too.
I loved this!
Recently I was in a coaching session with a nurse manager who talked about how challenging it is to do patient rounding and be at all the meetings she is expected to attend. I remembered this when I read the, “Yeah mom, I’ll do it later” portion. While I didn’t use the 80/20 language in my response to her, I basically said the same thing that you have posted: spend your time doing the most important things and where you can have the greatest impact. The look on her face and the response I got was one of “you don’t get it. I’m expected to be at these meetings.” What could I have said or done that would have been more effective? I don’t feel I helped her with the conflict she felt. I think she left feeling frustrated because she likely wasn’t going to say to her leader that she wouldn’t be at certain meetings because it was more important to round. Many people don’t feel empowered to say no to the person above them. Any thoughts?
Hey Scott,
I worked at a hospital as well and know where you are coming from.
Prioritizing is really hard. People usually give the response you gave, “but I have all of these other things to do”.
The key is that you have to confront those time sinks head on. Talk to the people making the requests, lay out all of the demands for your time and your assessment of their value, and let them help you prioritize.
Remind that nurse, that at the end of the day (or performance review cycle), no one is going to remember what meetings he or she attended. They’ll only remember what got done.
Check out my other entry, “Falling Prey to Pareto” (http://leaderquest.blogspot.com/2007/11/are-you-adding-enough-value.html) for more suggestions.
Learning to say no is easy and one of the greatest skills to have, but learning to say no to the right things is hard. Then you are the master of your own domain.
Karl – Great point…too many people go to the extreme and just start saying “no” to everything. You are absolutely right – you can only be really in control when you know when to say yes and when to say no. Thanks!
The yes/no challenge is hard enough when things are clear cut and its a matter of telling people what they may not agree with. But what I find even more challenging is when the yes/no decision is based upon ambiguous circumstances…when it isn’t black and white but grey. Navigating a response then is personally challenging for me.
Those grey areas are tough and more often than not, are the ones you have to deal with.
The key to managing those is to think of them in relative terms as opposed to absolute terms.
Don’t try to figure out which requests are good and which are bad. They probably all have merit.
Instead, I focus on a couple of things to help me weigh each one:
1. What is the overall impact (relative to effort)?
2. Am I the only one who can do this?
3. Does doing this (whatever “this” is) help further some of my other goals?
4. Is doing this in my best interest (not always the best question but a practical one. Sometimes you do it just because you have to).