Falcon’s latest article, written by Jeremy Hamm, was published in the Zweig Group’s weekly newsletter. Below is an excerpt. Check out the full article via the link provided.
GIVE YOUR PEOPLE COMMON CENTS (Read full article here)
Make your business more sustainable and build a loyal team by training your people to manage themselves and their projects the way you would.
I once had an employee arrive on a job site three hours away from the office, and then call me freaking out because they forgot some tools/materials they needed for the job. They had already turned around to come back to the office and wanted to know if someone could meet them halfway so they could still finish the job that day. When I asked what they forgot, I realized they could buy it all from a home improvement store for around $100, so I directed them to go there instead.
When they arrived, they called me again: “I found what I need but it’s kind of expensive!” I responded, “You know what’s expensive? Paying for you to drive a gas guzzling pickup truck six hours round trip twice! Just buy the stuff and don’t sweat it.” I walked them through the cost comparison of the two options and we both agreed it was a no-brainer. It was in that moment I realized that sometimes what we think are easy decisions are not so simple to people who do not share our knowledge or perspective. Just giving them rules of thumb and draconian policies to follow does not allow them to see the big picture, and it definitely does not foster ownership of the projects they work on.
We hear the old standby “lead by example,” and that is certainly important, but equally important is sharing your management philosophy with the people you lead.
