• Leaders – Keep the bar high

    Date: 2011.11.29 | Category: Leadership Testimonial | Tags:

    I am always reminded of a conversation  with a colleague where she was asking me to help her think through a particular problem and propose some options. Having reflected and offered up a couple of possibilities she thanked me and said ‘ but I am sure there is more you could offer up’ and after a little more reflection I came up with  another idea, improving on the first offerings. As I sat back thinking I had really worked my brain, she looked at me as if to say ‘are you sure ? and I came back with yet another , much better and one which we both felt yes, that was it!

    Anne is that colleague who always seems to bring out the best in me and  others and  multiplies talent wherever she works. Multipliers understand that people grow through challenge, they seek to provoke different thinking in others and set in motion multiple processes  of discovery.  They demand the best effort from those that they work with. They do this in a way which enables the challenge to be heard and encourages individuals to stretch and push themselves beyond their previous limits.

    They work with the assumption that people’s best thinking must be given, not taken. They also understand to to get people’s best thinking  they need to provide opportunities for people to undertake safe to fail experiments, make and learn from mistakes and produce new thinking as a result.

    How often do  you ask people whether what they are giving is their best work ? Do you hold the bar high enough for each individual? How well do you celebrate their successes? How do you help them learn and recover from mistakes?

    Does the future look brighter?