Giving Your Team Members A Voice In Decision-Making

Here are a few tips

The following is adapted from It’s Never Just Business.

Do you know what a common thread is between many of the brands you love?

Affinity brands, as they’re known, empower their employees to make decisions, all the way down to frontline workers. The reason you’ll pay $6 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks isn’t because their coffee is any better than the shop down the street; it’s because the team members are happy and they’re empowered to help you.
 

If you walk into a Starbucks and ask for a pepperoni pizza, the barista won’t just gloss over and tell you they don’t serve pizza. Instead, they will say something like “We don’t serve pizza here, but two blocks down is the best New York slice in town.”

They are engaged, and they want to help. If you don’t believe me…try it!

Southwest Airlines is another great example. Their flight attendants tell jokes to passengers. Nobody in the corporate office told them they had to do that, but someone thought it would be fun, tried it, and the passengers loved it.

Word spread among employees, and pretty soon it went viral.

Starbucks and Southwest Airlines know how to fully empower team members to serve their core values and goals, and you can do the same with your team.

Encourage them to identify their own masterful approach to achieving a shared goal and you’ll come away with innovative solutions and happy team members.

So, how can you give your team members a voice in shaping the future? I don’t have all the answers, but here are a couple of changes I made that had a big-time impact.

I’m the first to admit I tended to stubbornly defend my ideas. I’d think, It’s my company; we’re going to do it this way. I’m not really interested in anybody’s ideas.

Naturally, people don’t react optimally to that approach.

They might do what you ask, but they’re not going to grow or learn. Ultimately, you’ll find yourself needing to save the day over and over again.

As I worked to develop my company and my leadership to get better results, I reflected on how changes in my behavior had changed my relationships with my team.

I realized on the days that I was patient and empathetic or felt like I wanted to work on something with them and wasn’t so focused on the result, everything came together.

Now, instead of simply evaluating their proposals, I ask questions to understand.

Most of the time, when you tell somebody precisely what to do and how to do it, they’re simply going to take notes and go do it. They’re essentially a soldier following orders.

As they do, you’re going to cross your fingers and hope yours was the best solution.

On the other hand, you could frame and then ask a question:

“We need to get better results in talent acquisition. Do you have any ideas?”

By asking a question, you’ve engaged their mind and curiosity, and they’re going to begin problem-solving. By the time you’re done with the discussion, they may have already thrown out several ideas, and more ideas lead to better results.

We don’t just communicate to lead; we listen to lead.

I started becoming intentional about my communication in that I now understand that what and how I communicate is predictive of the outcomes I can expect.

The secret formula for effective leadership is to adopt a beginner’s mind and develop a deep understanding of your team’s decisions. If they come to you and ask how you want them to do something, you have to be able to ask how they’d do it.

If you’re going into a meeting to solve a business problem, you will absolutely have already thought of some way to make the problem go away.

That’s how you became an executive, right? You were the person who had the ideas and would solve the problems. In your role as a leader, it’s important to take the time to allow your team to come up with a solution and to remain open to the possibilities.

If, during your meeting preparation, you don’t acknowledge that you're going to want to provide the solution, you’re missing the most important part of the exercise: to check “you” at the door and go into the meeting playing for your team.

It’s also important to understand that, while you’re encouraging your team to come up with solutions, you’re not going to like everything they come up with.

If someone presents an idea you’re not keen on, don’t say, “That’s not the best idea,” get impatient, and tell them what to do! That’s advocating and labeling.

Instead, redirect them to another potential solution by restating your understanding of the solution being proposed, and then reframe the desired outcome.

Say something like “Well, if our goal is…how does your solution get us there?”

It’s a chance to refocus their attention, but you need the patience not to solve the problem for them. Remember, if you are dictating outcomes, you are managing.

If you help them get clarity, you are leading.

J. Scott is a father, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist whose purpose is to inspire people to reach for THEIR potential. He is founder and CEO of the project portfolio leadership and change leadership consultancy 120VC, and has been directly responsible for transformational efforts within organizations such as DirecTV, Live Nation, Trader Joes, Blizzard Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Toyota Financial Services, & Mattel, and others.  He has enabled his Fortune 100 clients to successfully execute project portfolio management and enterprise-wide change efforts that have generated breakthrough results and created meaningful jobs. Connect J.Scott Follow @hiringLeaders

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Book: It’s Never Just Business