Great leadership is rarely about command-and-control. That’s old school and pretty much gone. Today’s most successful leaders understand that the facilitation of meaningful conversations leads to new ideas and the integration of them is what drives organizations.
You get these two things right and you have a very good chance at making your business a success.
Be Incredibly Observant Inside and Outside Your Organization. Knowing what your employees think is great but not comparing it to what those you serve outside your organization is not. Having up-to-date insights on the needs of those in your marketplace is closely tied to understanding their behavioral motivations, and that’s the quickest way to create ideas that are relevant.
One company was seeking to introduce a new set of products to the consumer marketplace using a three-tier distribution model. To test this introduction, a team of researchers from our firm conducted “field testing” where they presented mockups of the new set of products at regional conventions and conferences. Through these discussions and observations, the team found that consumers were more interested in a completely different type of offering than what had been planned. Based on this research, the company changed their product offerings to build a major base of clients.
Use Rapid Communications Throughout Your Organization. Unbridled discussions allow organizations to communicate a large amount of information throughout an organization. There are many ways to accomplish this today, such as email, text, Instagram, Slack, and FaceTime, and of course, telephone all encourage further development of the idea at hand. Often this type of further discussion leads to an improved product and can produce an entirely different offering than first conceived. Generating ideas is not new of course, but motivating everyone on your team to contribute on an equal footing is.
Too many organizations are still being run based upon the hierarchy of its management and as a result some of its best ideas remain hidden from view because finding a voice in the organization is so difficult. Although these two things are not difficult or complex to understand, it does take an enlightened leader who understands their value and promotes their use throughout all areas of the organization.
