So, last week some of you may have seen part 1 of this blog where I talked about how, at SHIFT and through my entire career, some of the best decisions I’ve seen made have come from healthy friction, discussion and conversation.
In fact, I’ve found that SHIFT nearly ALWAYS gets better, or offers more robust solutions to our clients by using the depth of our entire team. One of the reasons for this is that we don’t always agree one-hundred percent of the time. We all come from various backgrounds and experiences which lead us to having, sometimes, different viewpoints and opinions. We encourage conversation around these different viewpoints, but along the way we follow a few simple rules that not only ensure we get to the best solution or answer, but more importantly that we remain professional, courteous, and respectful along the way.
I briefly shared the rules last week, but I encourage you take a second look now, think about an instance where following these tenants could improve your outcome:
1. Allow enough time so that no one feels rushed: If you don’t have time for the real conversation don’t rush it—make time for the discussion. You want enough time so that everyone involved has enough, and equal time share his/her thoughts and viewpoints without feeling pressured or rushed into a decision.
2. Be polite and listen thoughtfully: Listening does not mean you stop talking, so you can get ready for the next thing you’re going to say—listening means you’re paying attention and taking notice. You’re making an effort to not just hear what the other person is saying, but understand what he or she is saying. If this sounds “difficult” and like “work,” that’s because it is!
3. Let them know you’re listening by asking thoughtful and challenging questions (think devil’s advocate): Show the other person that you’re listening—engage him/her! Summarize the other person’s perspective, and share it with him/her to show that you REALLY were not just hearing them, but listening and paying attention with focus and intent. Take the other side, see if it fits… asks questions. Why do you feel that way? What lead you to that idea?
4. Make commitments, establish next steps, and follow through, completely: First step, respond. Once you understand the other person’s view point, it’s your turn! And ask the other person to do the same (steps 1 through 3). Heck, send them this blog (and the first part, too) so you are both playing by the same rules! Then, after you’ve both had a turn to share your point of view, listen, and ask thoughtful questions it’s time to set a time to revisit the decision, regardless of where you land in terms of the disagreement. Whether it’s one week, one month or one year, revisit it—not so you can say “I told you so,” but so you can both see the results or progress since the discussion and adjust if a change or tweak is needed.
5. Leave unified: The whole idea here is to be better leaders, managers, thinkers and doers… with that said, once a decision has been made you need to support it whether it was your idea/view point or not.
Now go out there, get into some disagreements, have great conversations, and leave unified. The world needs more leaders so go out there and lead!
Jeremy Steinberg is Partner and Managing Director for SHIFT and has worked with the C-level and executive leadership teams in more than 400 diverse organizations. His goals are to strengthen team productivity by creating customized growth strategies, managing change, reviving culture through on-site work including training and certification programs which help organizations increase their leadership and reach their goals.
