Interact one on one. Sometimes,
when people are in a group
setting, they aren’t comfortable offering up their views.
People think, ‘My opinion
doesn’t matter,’ or, ‘I’m going to look like a wet blanket.’
They may have a very important view or a point, but they
feel like the train’s already left
the station so they can’t bring
up a roadblock or an issue
because they won’t look like a
team player.
One on one, they’re more
comfortable giving their vantage point from whatever particular part of the business they
run. It’s sitting down with them
one on one, so they feel like
they can express their views.
CEOs should approach the
individual or make a forum [to
engage in one-on-one interaction]. It depends on the size of
the business. At large businesses, they make themselves available by saying, ‘If you ever want
to have 15 minutes with me, or
whatever that looks like, you
can make an appointment with my secretary,’ or, ‘Here’s a little
suggestion box, and I welcome
dialogue with you.’
At a smaller one, the CEO has
to approach individuals and let
them know that their opinion is
valued. By working with them
and building a consensus, it
definitely makes the outcome
successful. It helps with the
ultimate group decision.
When I’ve had leaders come
ask my opinion, it makes me
feel like I’m valued and that
my opinion matters. I could be
totally off base, but because
I’m not privy to some of the
information that maybe that
leader is, having that conversation helps me understand why
decisions are made.
Give yourself time to make good
decisions. We have a little thing
here called the 24-hour rule. The
scenario is, you’re presented
with a problem, and your natural tendency is, ‘I’m going in to
fix this right now.’ But if you
don’t fix it properly, you’re going
to make the problem worse.
So let’s give it 24 hours here.
Let’s assess the situation. We’re
going to respond to the situation, but we’re going to give ourselves some time to make sure
that we address the problem in
the appropriate fashion. Give it
a 24-hour rule, and get some
weigh-in from your team.
[It leads to] a better resolution. If you’re reactionary,
sometimes you create three
more problems. If you give it a
little bit of time, you may prevent making the problem
worse.
HOW TO REACH: Valley Savings Bank, (330) 923-0454 or www.valleysavingsbank.com
