From Mark Ford, editor, Creating Wealth: There are many benefits to being the boss…
But one of the major drawbacks is that your subordinates may not always be honest with you. In an effort to seem agreeable, they may say “yes” to you when they are thinking “no.”
Or they may naively assume that since you are smart enough to be the boss, your ideas are always going to be good ones. This could damage your chance of success.
Sure, your ideas were important in starting your business. But it was your tenacity that made it all happen. Trust your experience, but allow that some of the ideas you got through experience may need a little fine-tuning.
Surround yourself with the best people and encourage them to treat your ideas as you treat theirs—with respect enough to CHALLENGE them. (If you work “for yourself,” this applies to your vendors and anyone else you run your ideas by.)
We’ve talked before about how to improve your work team—how to increase its productivity, sharpen its skills, and make its members care more about the desired outcome. We’ve fired the weakest member and thanked the strongest.
But you need more. You need for those people to provide you with honest feedback on your own contributions.
So do this: Ask yourself honestly if your key people are regularly challenging your ideas.
If not—if they tend to defer to you—sit them down and take responsibility for turning them into cheerleaders instead of challengers. Apologize and then ask for their support in the future. Talk about how the group could best discuss and evaluate new ideas. Do for yourself what you will do for them.
If you do, your business will prosper and you won’t have to worry about wasting time, resources, and possibly big money pursuing bad ideas—even if they are yours.