One of the most exciting things for me is to watch leaders in our Year-long Platinum Program make profound changes in how they connect, communicate and inspire others around them.
Today I want to highlight one of those individuals, Brandon, who wanted to inspire his sales team to think strategically about their whole business. Instead of just talking about strategy he decided to activate the team’s thinking by using one of the episodes from the tv program The Profit. Brandon used the episode about a makeup company- Lano*- to get his group to strategically understand why and how they needed to link their products together in a hub and spoke model so they create a sound “story” that people could follow.
What happened was a very engaged discussion with the team and the entire team got behind the new strategy.
As a leader you want to continue to challenge the thinking and find new ways to help your team come to their own “ah ha’s”. The result will be a more engaged team that is high in accountability and trust.
PS: *In the Lano episode the female CEO has a very diverse and scattered business that is doing 2.5 million but has not central focus. Marcus bought in, and then refocused the line to take one concept approach and build a centralized focus around lanolin. Today the business is on track to do $20 million.
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Outcome Thinking® Solution
How to calm fears & raise accountability
by Anne Warfield
SITUATION:
We are going through a tremendous amount of growth. As part of this growth I am going to be moving a part of our business that currently has virtually no one utilizing or working on it out of one of our locations. This move will have ZERO impact on the employees that work on that location. They will continue to work as normal.
The problem is they are acting like I am taking something away from them. They tell me they feel “out of the loop” and want to know more of what is happening at headquarters. I simply don’t have any extra time to drive down to see them so I can “keep them in the loop.” To be fair, we have undergone a lot of change lately but it seems any change I make seems to wig them out. What should I do? Should I make more trips down there to keep them in the loop?
OTHER PERSON’S PERSPECTIVE:
The amount of change you have been experiencing has probably got them scared. Even though you see moving the one part of the business as “logical,” they may see it as the “writing on the wall” that they will be next. Couple this with them being at a remote location, they are now probably hyperventilating and feeling that if they have more access to headquarters they can be more influential on what is happening.
THINKING IT THROUGH USING OUTCOME THINKING®:
When the brain panics it resorts to becoming very shortsighted and very skeptical of any change that messes with its world. Now add to the fact that the group feels remote, you can see where they are coming from.
Having said all that, don’t make the mistake that many leaders do—don’t take all responsibility back on to you in trying to calm them down. During periods of change, you as the leader, need to have the flexibility and time to be more strategic so you actually have less free time than at other times.
BEST HANDLED/PHASED®:
Using Outcome Thinking® there are three steps you want to follow:
1. Calm their fear- Directly address the fear and let them know you realize that moving one part of the business could feel like a sign that there is more that is coming. Tell them that even though that part is moving nothing is changing with their jobs, they will just be gaining space that had previously lost. Tell them you will be transparent with them on all change so they don’t need to spend any time “wondering” if there is a hidden meaning.
2. Give them a path to be more involved- Thank them for their desire to be involved. Then give them involvement options where they take the accountability of making the change to be more involved. For example, you could let them rotate having someone come up to headquarters to join meetings you have there. Or you could let them Skype or Facetime in to a group meeting. Or you could partner them with a person/team at headquarters to stay in the loop.
Don’t be surprised if they decide to not follow the path to be more involved as often that is just an attempt by the brain to calm the fear. Once they realize you are not “meaning” any hidden messages in moving the one department, they often no longer feel the need to be more involved. But if they do, yay, because they take on the accountability of making that work with extra driving and time on their part, not yours.
Deal of the Month!
How To Get Your Messages to Cascade Down
For the last fifteen years, Anne Warfield has trained executives from around the world on “HOW TO” communicate, negotiate, and present so they are compelling, concise, and engaging.
This process has generated questions from our clients that have resulted in some of the most insightful, inspiring, and invigorating parts of the Outcome Focus Approach. What you hold in your hands is a compilation of those questions on how to understand and interact with your team in order to become MORE productive.
Click here to register for the “Successful Communication, Brain Style Analysis” Virtual Training, a 90 minute training session with a personalized Outcome Thinking® Communication Assessment included, that you can now watch anytime that is convenient for you.
Quoteable Quotes
“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”
~ Jean Paul
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“When I conducted my presentations in the past I spent a lot of time reading from the slides and I received mediocre results.
Now that I’ve learned about Outcome Thinking® I have a more focused approach. I get right to the point. Attending Managing Your Message you will walk away with a powerful strategy to speaking and active listening.”
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