My way or the highway

Published on
September 5, 2013
Author
Chris Taylor
"Ideas are only valuable when applied."
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… or, you know, your way could work, too.

If we claim we want, “self motivated employees who innovate proactively”, do we honestly believe that scripting / micro-managing / doing-all-the-thinking is the best path to get there?

Paint the picture of what’s possible. Clearly communicate the “out of bounds” behaviors. By all means, be available to answer questions and provide direction, when asked and when they’re stuck. But by-and-large, get out of the way.

Sure, it could be easier (short term) to do it yourself. You might even do a better job, at first. But I don’t care if you’re an entrepreneur, corporate team leader, or a musician in a band, there’s no way to grow when you’re doing it all yourself.

At the end of the day, it comes down to trust, doesn’t it?

Want tips on developing a team of self motivated, yet collaborative employees, Dan Pontefract is talking about employee empowerment and “Flat Armies” in our upcoming Twitter chat on Sept 16th. You can RSVP for a day-of reminder here.