Recognize where people stand. In
any organization, there’s going
to be 20 percent that’s going to
jump on the bandwagon and be
a cheerleader with you. There’s
going to be 60 percent going,
‘Let me wait and see what he
does or what happens.’
Then there’s 20 percent that
are naysayers. Neutralize the
naysayers. Absolutely spend
time with your cheerleaders —
make sure they truly understand what it’s going to take. Let
them, along with you, infiltrate
that other 60 percent that’s waiting and seeing. It’s like any execution — you have to break it
down into smaller parts.
Neutralize naysayers. It’s one-on-one. I had to sit down with
them and say, ‘Why do you
believe that?’ ‘Well, it’s talent.’
‘Well, part of our plan is to
bring in high-level talent in
these areas of growth.’ You
had to go down a one on one.
That was one part of it.
One part was I had to go to a
couple people and say, ‘I understand that you’re not buying it,
and I appreciate that you’re not
buying in to it and that you have
a kind of negative personality. All
I ask you to do is to not speak in
an open meeting negatively
against it. If I am proven wrong,
I promise you I will give you the
floor to talk about how badly I
predicted what we could do.’
I have a wonderful group of
partners, and those who were
uncertain stayed quiet.
I knew I needed their involvement in certain things. I’d say, ‘I
understand that you don’t really
buy in to it, but this is an area
you’re in, and I really need you
to do this,’ so I gave them a
major task.
If you’re the guard on the football team, and every day you
have to go out for blocking
assignments, you may not like
it, but at the end of the day, if
you block well, something good
might happen.
Capitalize on cheerleaders. You
have to cultivate that 20 percent
and say, ‘Here’s what we’re
looking for. Let’s think that
through,’ and they became part
of the solution. They were part
of the process. Spend time with
them and understand what their
desires are.
If you’ve got six parts you’re
trying to accomplish, it’s very
seldom that one person is going
to be involved in all six parts.
You have to look at their
strengths.
Once you get someone in the
right direction, stay out of their
way. Let them lead. Just because
you’re CEO or managing partner or whatever the title might
be, part of that is knowing
when to get in there and get
involved and knowing when to
leave it alone and let smart people run with it. It’s trial and
error.
HOW TO REACH: Reznick Group PC, (404) 847-9447 or www.reznickgroup.com
