Let The Pilot Fly The Plane, Please - Audio Tidbits Podcast

Audio Tidbits Podcast

None but a certifiable power junky would go with his own ideas and skills when someone more competent is readily available. Nonetheless, power junkies are more prevalent than you might think. You can find them mostly in the middle ranks but rarely at the top. Leaders do not get there by ignoring or overlooking expertise in others and especially not in people whose knowledge, skills, and resources can increase their chances for success. Skilled leaders take full advantage of whatever may give them the winning edge.

a proactive leader’s reason for deferring to the expertise of others goes a little farther though. He truly values differing styles and opinions. Each person on the team has know-how, skills, and resources unlike those of anyone else. They all have their special areas of expertise. They also have their individual approaches, ways of thinking, and perspectives. This gives fullness and flavor to the team. Not to take advantage of this richness would be like ignoring the pilot when she suggests that you let her fly the plain this time. …
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You already know a proactive leader has an organized mind and an uncanny ability to see problems before they are problems, opportunities before anyone else knows an opportunity is at hand. There is a value-added benefit of having a proactive leader that you may not know about though. a proactive leader deals with problems and issues as soon as he becomes aware of them. It is part of his do today’s business today approach to everything. It also makes it easier for him to have an organized mind. The less there is to keep track of, the easier it is to keep it organized.

You know about how hectic things are the day after vacation. Stuff has not gotten done and work is backed up. Did you know there are people whose days are like that all the time? Sure, it may be due to having impossible jobs where they are always behind. That is a different matter they need to deal with. More typically though, the problem is caused by not doing today’s business today, even though the opportunity is there to do it. They do the routine things but set the more difficult or unpleasant tasks aside. They want to think about it, will get back to it later, or do not feel like they have enough information.

a proactive leader has learned most all of these tasks are five-minutes-or-less activities and require a decision or response to a problem or issue. His rule here is simple.

First, delegate. Pass the problem or issue along to the person who has the needed information and the responsibility for the outcome. Please take care of this. Let me know by next Tuesday how you handled it.

Second, if you cannot delegate, the rule is handle it, now. Make the best decision you can, based on what you know right now. Trust your experience, your instincts, your well-tested judgment.

Third, if you cannot delegate and are not prepared to act, the rule is to trash it. A lot of unnecessary work is appropriately avoided by this simple step.

Less than 5% of the non-routine tasks outlive the previous three rules. This is at least much more manageable. a proactive leader’s rule for this 5% is this.

If you cannot finish it today, assign someone to work on it with you. That person is responsible for developing a completion schedule, getting the needed information together, and bringing a recommendation to you.

When the recommendation comes back, start with the first rule and run the steps again. The most likely outcome is that you accept the recommendation and delegate the task to the person who has been working on the problem or issue. However you handle it, today’s business has been done today.