Do you want to harness the greatest power in your organization? Are you benefiting from your organization’s best asset?
The organization’s best assets—whether a church, business or non-profit—never appear on your balance sheet.
The truth is any organization is only as good as the people within it. Take the greatest idea and put the wrong people behind it and little progress will be realized. With the right people—even average ideas can achieve tremendous results.
The key to success is to learn how to get the best ideas out of the people within the organization. It’s often been called Human Capital. Learning to glean from this valuable resource takes experience and intentionality.
Are you relying on the knowledge, insight and experience of everyone on your team to make the organization better? Do you understand and appreciate the human capital your team brings to the table?
5 WAYS TO REALIZE MORE POTENTIAL FROM YOUR PEOPLE
1. Brainstorm Frequently—and Let Everyone Participate.
Have times periodically where everyone on the team—or cross-representatives from different teams across the organization—get to give input into the organization’s future. It’s important to provide ways for even the most introverted on the team to share thoughts. Information shouldn’t be defined to a “chain of command.”
Plus, everyone has something they know better than leadership knows. The people doing the work usually have better input on how things can be done more efficiently and effectively.
2. Allow Mistakes.
Create an environment where team members are willing to take risks without fear of repercussion if things go wrong. This atmosphere is created with the leader’s instant reactions to mistakes made and is reinforced by how the organization learns from failure.
When people feel free to explore, take risks and innovate they will enjoy doing so.
I once read a list of 12 things discovered by making a mistake:
- The slinky
- Penicillin
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Potato chips
- The pacemaker
- Silly Putty
- Microwave ovens
- Fireworks
- Corn flakes
- Ink jet printers
- Post-it notes
- X-rays
Now where would the world be without Silly Putty—right? Seriously, God has given us creative minds. What is your team trying, which could prove to be a mistake—but it could be genius?
3. Ask Lots of Questions.
The best leaders ask the best questions. Genuinely seek help from those around you. Value the input of others. I like to follow others on the team when they are the expert in a subject.
Plus, sometimes, I ask questions not as much for the answer but to get people’s minds churning. It’s proven to be gold when those questions turn into new ideas and opportunities.
4. Don’t Pre-Define Solutions.
If you want help solving a problem or planning for the future, start with a clean slate, without having a pre-determined outcome when addressing an issue. I love a clean whiteboard at the start of a meeting.
If the leader always has the answer, team members are less likely to share their input. They’ll simply wait—holding out the best solutions at times—knowing the leader will trump them anyway.
5. Be Open to Change.
New ideas never come in an attitude of control or when the goal is always protecting tradition. The leader must genuinely desire new ways of doing things and must lead others to the same mindset.
Everyone on the team knows if the leader is really considering other people’s opinions. If team member’s suggestions are never implemented, they eventually will stop sharing them.
Read more from Ron Edmondson »
This article originally appeared on RonEdmondson.com and is reposted here by permission.