Get out of the gray
Richmond finds some of the roughest times are when he is stuck in a gray area on a decision, and that’s when it’s even more crucial to explain yourself and why you’re asking questions.
“Most of what senior managers deal with is all the gray stuff because everybody else is hopefully doing the black and white,” he says. “So you are always in the gray zone. That’s when you really have to ask yourself, ‘What is the right thing to do?’”
When facing an especially difficult problem, Richmond will make a list of pros and cons and ask other people involved to make a list, as well. He then compares his list with theirs and usually finds that 90 percent of the lists are similar. It’s the difference among that 10 percent of lists that takes some discussion.
To get to the right solution, Richmond wants all involved parties to explain themselves, including himself. If you explain yourself, you will get more buy-in for a proposed solution.
“When I started (in business), it was whatever the boss told you to do, you did,” he says. “You didn’t ask questions why. You just went and you did it, even if it was stupid. Today, people want to know why, and if you don’t have a good reason why, they’re probably not going to do it. Or they’re going to tell you they’re going to do it and then they don’t do it.”
Having to explain yourself challenges you to be a better leader.
“People are challenging your position and you have to defend it,” he says. “People are just not going to blindly obey. Now you have to defend your position. Many times you come back and say, ‘Maybe they were right. If I don’t have a good argument for doing this the way I want to do it, then why am I asking someone to do it.’”
Explaining the “why” behind a decision or p
osition also helps people deal with the outcome more.
“They don’t have to like it; they don’t even have to agree with it,” Richmond says. “But at least they have a reason, at least they can go away and say, ‘I don’t agree with it,’ but at least (they) understand why I made that decision.”
Before Richmond presents a position regarding a serious decision to someone, he also assumes that he will be challenged.
“I defend in my own mind that challenge,” he says. “I say, ‘OK, let’s say someone is laying this issue on my table, how would I receive it? What would be arguments to the con be, and how would I defend them?’”
Richmond challenges his team to do the same.
“If you are going to bring me a problem, be prepared to propose a solution,” he says. “It may not be what we are going to do — at least have thought it through to the point where that’s what you get paid to do. You are a manager. Come to me with a problem and a solution, then we will discuss the solution.”
Another way to get help if you’re stuck in a gray area is to ask for assistance outside of your company, because it may give you an idea you never thought about. At a previous company, Richmond was at a meeting with the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, and he explained his problem to the CEO. The CEO said he had the same situation early in his career and gave Richmond some advice that hadn’t crossed his mind.
“He said, ‘We sold the business,’” Richmond says.
While it was completely out of left field, Richmond took the idea back to his team and they were able to find some solutions from the suggestion.
“We sat down and brainstormed, ‘Well, what would that look like? Let’s say we did (sell), what would the new folks do coming in? They’d probably do this, and they’d probably do that,’” he says. “Then we said, ‘Well, if that’s what they’d do, why wouldn’t we do that now?’”
And don’t be afraid to reach out to another leader in a different industry to get ideas to help get out of that gray area.
“I really enjoy talking to people, who are in similar positions in totally different industries,” he says. “I’ll talk to anybody. The president of Akron General — I haven’t (talked to him), but I’d like to (and ask) ‘How do you run a hospital? What do you do when you run into this situation?’ You get a totally different perspective in a totally different industry. It’s amazing how similar the problems and issues are, but sometimes unique solutions come out because you are dealing with the different population, you are dealing with a different demographic, you are dealing with a different structure. A wealth of knowledge can come out of that.”
Though you might not get the advice you expect to hear, asking for another opinion is a simple way to help solve a problem.
“It’s amazing how open people are when you ask,” he says. “Generally speaking, everybody wants to help. I think we do want to help each other. Generally, you get it. It might not be the advice you want, but you’re going to get the advice.”
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