7 Steps to Make Your Great Ideas Succeed

Photo by nrkbeta

There are more PCs than Macs.

There are more Android phones than iPhones.

Whichever platform you personally prefer, the Apple products have had a major impact regardless of their smaller market share - you don't have to be the biggest or most prolific in order to be successful with a game-changing idea.

You might be frustrated at times when your big idea isn't adopted right away. You know vision and innovation are important, but how do you take those great ideas and give them a chance to become reality? 

Here are 7 steps to make your great ideas succeed:

1) Start small

Pilot everything - try the idea with as small a group as possible. This might be one person...or one team...or one classroom...or one building - whatever the smallest practice unit might be and for which you have responsibility. Start with people who can buy-in to the concept and implement it. Even if that is just you to begin with.

2) Learn from successes and failures

In your pilot effort, note what worked and, most importantly, try to determine why it worked. It's not always what you think. Then look at what didn't work. Can you make corrections?

3) Course correct and try again

Implement your lessons learned from successes and failures and try again...maybe with two or three pilot units. Are things working as you envisioned? If not, continue in steps 1 - 3 until you're comfortable to you can demonstrate results. Invite people, without pressure, to see what you're doing. Start with opinion leaders and those who you know have similar problems.

4) Quantify and qualify results

Take time to demonstrate the impact of your great idea. Tell the human story and show the numbers. For someone who has never thought this way before, what benefits does your idea have? What problems does it solve? In your pilots, you should have obtained some numbers and good stories.

5) Manage up and sideways

If you're a growing leader with great ideas, this might be a challenging step. You want to win support for your concept.

Begin with the values and problems of your coworkers and supervisors. What is important to them - how does your idea reinforce those values? What problems do they have - how does your concept solve their problems?

Note: If your big idea requires that the organization or your supervisors change their values or adopt problems they don't currently see or care about, this step requires a great deal more time and work. Start with education - "Did you know...? How do you feel about...? Have you considered...?" Present challenges and data in terms of their existing values and problems. Being pushy and self-righteous will not help you accomplish your goal.

If your idea is a good one and you can implement it, continue demonstrating the data and results. In time, you will be ready for:

6) Implementation

If your idea is adopted or you get the responsibility to take it further, this is a critical step: don't let a good idea wither by neglecting your "whys" and "whats"!

6a) Why

First, have "why" conversations with those responsible for implementing this idea. They have their own values and their own problems. Why should they care about your great idea? In fact, at this point it's no longer "your" idea - now it's an opportunity for everyone to be [safer / more effective / save money / make money / enjoy work / etc.]

Don't skip this step! Your idea relies on others understanding why they are doing it. People (including you and me) do what we have a personal interest in doing. This is one of the reasons you want to expose people to the idea during the pilots, to build excitement and personal connection.

6b) What

Once the "why" is very clear and people are invested in the solution, then move to the "what" - how to implement the great idea. What knowledge and resources do people need? What skills?

7) Monitor and Feedback
Just as you did during your pilots, keep an eye on what is and is not working. Don't ignore feedback you receive. Something that worked in the pilot might not make sense with a larger implementation. As you monitor and receive feedback, implement what you learn. As needed, revisit "whys" and "whats" - do they still make sense? Make changes as needed.

Size Isn't Everything

I began this post by referencing the smaller market share owned by Apple's computers and phones - your idea doesn't have to be used by everyone to change the world.

Take pride in your ideas and give them a chance to succeed. You might just revolutionize your organization or the world!

You Might Be Interested In:

Lincoln's Rule of Four

Do You Commit These 5 Management Mistakes?

The Garden of Ingenuity

I Looked for the Dry Places

Take care,

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Book Review: Love 'Em or Lose 'Em

In sales, there is a saying that keeping an existing customer is worth far more than attracting a new customer.

It is often the same with personnel. Every team, every organization relies on skilled and motivated people.

The first key to assembling a great team is to keep the great performers you already have. Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans tackle how to do this in: Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay.

Marketing copy on the top of my edition lists Love 'Em or Lose 'Em as "the bestselling employee retention book in the world." While I can't say whether or not that is true, I can definitely tell you that the principles in Love 'Em or Lose 'Em are very sound.

Kaye and Jordan-Evans lay out their 26 engagement strategies in sequence of the English alphabet. For example: (A) Ask what keeps you? (B) Buck stops here. (C) Careers - support growth. (D) Dignity - show respect... You get the idea.

Additionally, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em begins with the a fictionalized, but realistic, memo from an performing employee who decides to leave. The employee give an overview of the reasons they chose to depart. The book then reviews its 26 engagement strategies by starting with a segment of the resignation letter.

For beginning managers and business leaders, it is important to understand that money might initially attract someone or keep them from leaving, but it does not motivate. Newer managers are often surprised by this. But it isn't too surprising if you reflect on your own behavior.

We do our best work when the work is meaningful, we are engaged and share values with the people we work with, we feel valued, and we feel we are making a contribution.

When these things are absent, we might not leave...but, organizations are full of people who have "quit" without leaving.

Love 'Em or Lose 'Em discusses these principles and others with readable and practical suggestions you can begin implementing immediately. Kaye and Jordan-Evans provide straight-forward advice to help you keep your performing staff.

But this isn't a book of shortcuts. Real relationships are built on authenticity and integrity, not on manipulative tricks. You won't find those in Love 'Em or Lose 'Em. At its heart, this book means what it says, if you legitimately care for your team members - including making hard decisions like helping or removing those not carrying their weight - your team is far more likely to stay, be engaged, motivated, and productive.

I recommend Love 'Em or Lose 'Em for any leader or manager. Even if you're a pro at taking care of people, you'll likely find one or two good reminders here.

Happy Reading,

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

You Don't Have to Be a Genius to Motivate Others

Photo by David Blumenkrantz

Thank You

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for your shares, retweets, +1s, and emailing these posts on to others.

Thank you for leading - for the difference you are making in someone else's life.

Gratitude

I frequently write about the role of gratitude in effective leadership. 

We need the regular reminder. 

It's so easy in the urgency of our vision or the press of daily life to forget how much we are given.

Little Things

No one has to do anything for us.

Every act of service we receive...every kind word...every contribution of a team member...each of these is a gift for which we can be grateful.

Motivation

It is a simple thing - but most of us prefer to serve where there is gratitude.

I know of no source of motivation greater than the power of sincere thanks - it communicates respect, acknowledges another's dignity, and keeps the thanker humble.

Take care and Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. readers!

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Eight Leadership Lessons from Tim Tebow

Photo by Jeffrey Beall

Can Tim Tebow make it as an NFL quarterback?

More on that debate at the end of this post...

What is not up for debate are the leadership lessons we can learn from Tim Tebow.

I've met Mr. Tebow several times through my work in Denver, have watched him during games, and in interviews. Through two years and in every venue I've observed him, Tim Tebow has consistently demonstrated eight leadership principles:

1. Belief

One of the greatest gifts a leader brings to their team is belief - belief in the team, belief in the vision, belief that we can do this. Leaders believe when no one else does.

In just a few games as a starting quarterback, it is clear Mr. Tebow believes his team can win. That belief is contagious and brings out the best in everyone else.

2. Results

Effective leaders consistently focus on results. They regularly call their teams back to what they're trying to accomplish and make decisions on the basis of what will accomplish results.

Watching his celebration in the end zone after his most recent touchdown, it is clear that Tim Tebow is a competitor with an intense desire to win.

3. Humility

Effective leaders maintain a realistic sense of self. They know they're not perfect while also appreciating others' value and dignity. Humility is vital for leaders to establish credibility and maintain connection to their team.

In the times I've met Mr. Tebow, the characteristic that stands out most for me is his humility. So far, the incredible hype surrounding his short professional career has not gone to his head. 

I once heard him say that had he grown up in a different country or a different time, his skills as a football player would not be valued and no one would know him from anyone else. His sense of gratitude and having been 'blessed' is very real while he also knows he isn't all the press says he is - good or bad.

4. Perspective

Part of what keeps effective leaders humble is healthy perspective. That is, understanding how their work fits into a bigger picture and knowing what is most important.

After the Broncos' most recent win, Tim Tebow was asked how he maintains a level-head with all the media attention focused on him. He responded: This is just football. I'm able to help build a children's hospital in the Philippines - that's something that really matters. Tebow is a man of faith and it obviously informs every aspect of his life.

5. We Not I

Consistent with humility and a healthy perspective, effective leaders understand they are one person on a larger team and that everything that's accomplished is a product of that team.

Tebow consistently gives credit - not just to his team, but to the coaches. You just don't hear many professional athletes acknowledging the role their coaches play in the team's overall success.

6. Focus on Strengths not Weakness

"You cannot build on weaknesses...place a person in a position where his or her strengths can be fully utilized..." -Peter Drucker
"Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.” – Marilyn vos Savant

Competence matters. Tim Tebow is an inconsistent throwing quarterback - his passing rating is one of the lowest in the league. However, he is a strong running quarterback and reads defensive schemes well. In a display of strengths-oriented leadership, the Denver coaching staff have modified their offense to make these strengths productive.

7. Focus on What You Can Control

Ultimately, the only thing we have control over is our own behavior and attitude. Effective leaders take responsibility for themselves, their influence, and for their own contribution to results.

In a recent press conference, when asked why he thinks he is such a controversial sports figure, Tebow responded by saying it doesn't matter because it's not something he controls. What he can control, he said, is working hard, practicing with his team, and trying to get better. So that's where he puts his focus.

8. Learn, Work Hard, Get Better

Effective leaders make learning and developing competence a priority. Stagnant leaders lose credibility and cannot, with integrity, ask their teams to grow.

Tebow knows his passing game needs work. During the week he spends many hours with coaches working on his skills. He puts in the time and is learning.

Sustained Results

Back to the question I asked at the beginning: Can Tim Tebow make it as an NFL quarterback?

I am no football expert - what I do know is in six games he has proven he can lead and produce results.

Whether or not he and his team will be able to sustain performance over time will depend on their ability to stay together, remain focused on results, react to a changing environment, learn from their mistakes and successes, and grow over time.

And that's true for any team.

Read More:

15 Tips Every New Leader Needs
Avoiding the Waterfall
4 Key Practices for Every Organizational Leader
Where are Your Eyes?
Do You Commit These 5 Management Mistakes?

Take care,

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Book Review: Encouraging the Heart

Do you want to build a team with ownership, hope, results, and pride? If so, the subject of today's book review will help!

Encouraging the Heart: a Leader's Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others by James Kouzes and Barry Posner is a follow up resource to The Leadership Challenge.

For those familiar with Leadership Challenge, this book, Encourage the Heart, is an expansion on one of their five fundamental leadership practices.

At the core of Kouzes and Posner's leadership framework is the notion of influence founded on credibility. Leaders influence others and a leader's credibility is fundamental to their ability to influence. Leaders can develop their influence through five leadership practices including Modeling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Enabling Others to Act, Challenging the Process, and the subject of today's book review: Encouraging the Heart.

I appreciate the authors' emphasis on Encouraging the Heart as an aspect of leadership credibility. Leaders have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility - leaders can extend dignity, respect, and worth and genuinely make the world a better place.

Encouraging the Heart challenges leaders to care about their people, while maintaining focus on the team's ultimate objective: results. From the beginning, the authors emphasize that part of truly caring about your people is to set clear standards and expect the best. These are expressions of dignity and worth.

With that foundation, Encouraging the Heart challenges leaders to pay attention, personalize recognition, tell stories about success and values, celebrate together, and to be an example for others to follow.

The authors cover their material with many real life stories that add to the case and leave the reader motivated and ready to engage their team. I appreciate that the book concludes with 150 practical ways to encourage others with a variety of options for each of encouragement practices the authors recommend.

I strongly recommend Encouraging the Heart for leaders who want to grow in their care of people and for those who recognize that encouragement is not their strongest gift. Some people are born encouragers - if you're not one of them, this book is for you!

Happy Reading!

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Lead from the In-Between

Photo by Vincepal

Do you ever feel caught halfway between today and tomorrow?

You're not alone...but if you're leading it's a good place to be.

You maintain a constant vision of a better future. At the same time, you face a reality today which is not yet what you hope it will be.

This tension defeats many aspiring leaders. Some spend so much time dreaming about tomorrow that they do not give today the attention it needs. Others become so lost in today's challenges that they lose sight of their vision. In either case, the leader who stays too long in today or tomorrow will not remain a leader for long.

Effective leaders learn to manage the tension between today and tomorrow, to lead from the in-between.

Some practical tips to help manage this tension:

• Write down your vision or dreams for tomorrow.
• Set appointments with yourself to revisit your vision. Often you'll be surprised at the progress you've made and be inspired to continue. Other times you'll realize you want to make some course-corrections.
• Be very honest with yourself (and with your team) about where you are today. What are your team's strengths? What skills or resources do you need to acquire in order to accomplish the vision?
• Plan backwards. Start at the end - at the accomplished vision - and work backwards. If your vision is to double your impact in three years...where do you need to be in 2 years...in 1 year...in 6 months...in 1 month.
• Plan for today. Provide the most detail for your 1 month plan. These are the things you can practically do today to work toward your vision.
• Take time to reflect on your progress. Celebrate the small milestones - it reminds you and your team of the progress you've made and helps motivate for the next steps.
• Find company. Spend time with other leaders who experience the same tension (not to gripe...to encourage one another!)
• Give yourself space to reflect and permission to change your mind. It is okay to learn and refine your opinions over time.

This tension between today and tomorrow is the very essence of leadership.

Learning to lead from the in-between takes work, faith in the future, and belief in people.

...And I believe in you!

Take care,

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Succeed With Your Critics!

Photo by Yusmar Yahaya

Why Can't They...?

It's happening again.

You have a great idea...you're trying to get a new project implemented...you're proposing a change that's better for everyone.

And that person starts asking questions:

• Have you thought about what will happen when...?
• Do you look at the data behind this?
• Did you consider this explanation?
• What if the problem is really caused by...?
• How will we resource this?

When confronted by a regular skeptic, many new leaders and managers groan (hopefully internally, but I've seen it happen aloud). These frustrated visionaries ask, "Why can't they just support an idea for once??"

The Faithful Critic

Allowing this frustration to get the better of you will deprive you of one of your best friends.

Effective leaders and managers learn to value faithful critics who challenge their ideas and help them sort out exuberance from real life.

You want your idea to succeed, right?

So try developing your ideas with folks who will do their best to make sure it's an effective solution with a strong foundation. Learn to anticipate their concerns and refine your plans in ways that address their relevant criteria. Every team can benefit from one faithful critic who is willing to ask tough questions.

The hard truth is that if your exciting plan can't survive a little scrutiny from those closest to it, then the plan probably isn't ready for implementation.

Faultfinders

I've been using the term "faithful critic" - that skeptic who wants to be sure things have been thought through and requires some evidence to make a decision. These are valuable team members.

In contrast, there are faultfinders - people who've never met an idea they liked, are critical by nature, and there is nothing you'll be able to do to win their support.

How to tell the difference? Generally, one question can help you tease out whether you have a faithful critic or a faultfinder: "What would it require for you to support this idea?"

A faithful critic talks about exploring options or looking at resources, data, and outcomes - things that strengthen the concept.

No matter what idea you discuss, a faultfinder denies there is a problem or refuses to give support under any terms.

Next Steps

Spend time with your faithful critics. Keep them close. Build ideas with them.

Educate faultfinders to the nature of the problems involved. Try to help them understand. If they remain faultfinders, don't spend extra energy on them and help them find teams / work where they will be happier.

Take care,

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Book Review: The Go Giver

The subject of today's book review, The Go Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, written by Bob Burg and John David Mann repackages some enduring human relationship truths in a business setting.

In the popular style of the instructional fable, The Go Giver tells the story of a frustrated salesman who feels that he is working harder and harder, but not getting ahead. He eventually seeks the help of a mysterious "Chairman" who sends him to speak with different individuals, each of whom shares one of five "laws of stratospheric success". Ultimately, the hero learns the lessons and begins experiencing the success he's after.

The title turns the familiar label of a go-getter on its head and suggests that the route to business success is not in trying to turn quick deals, but in authentically giving of yourself, helping people, placing others interests ahead of your own, and being open to receiving what others have to offer.

The Go Giver is a short (one or two sittings) read, and the concepts are easy to grasp. The fictional stories are inspiring and the bottom-line message is plain: generosity of spirit and service to others will bring business success.

I have two concerns with The Go Giver. First, the atmosphere feels mono-cultural and may inadvertently discredit the concepts for some readers. Second, the message delivered is really one about being a good human being. It's a vital message and important in today's world.

Selling the idea as a way to personally enrich yourself is tough for me to swallow because:

a) It's contradictory - trying to give authentically without a profit motive (but with a profit motive).

b) While the principles discussed are clearly important, running a successful business requires additional knowledge and skills.

c) There are plenty of kind and giving people in the world who do not make a ton of money.

In the end, The Go Giver succeeds in providing valuable reminders that living authentically and helping others is simply a better way to live. I agree that these provide a good foundation and way to do business for any person, but I could not in good conscience tell anyone they can expect financial "stratospheric success" as a result.

Happy Reading!

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

The Only Way to Grow

Photo by Leo Reynolds

Where to Begin?

At some point in their journey, most growing leaders and managers feel overwhelmed. There is so much to learn, so many good ideas, so many areas that need attention...

And only one of you.

Good News

Let's begin with the good news: You can't do it all at once.

So let go of that internal pressure on yourself. There's no sense holding yourself to an impossible standard. Even worse, if you do, you will paralyze yourself or limit your credibility by frantically running around in a vain attempt to be everything simultaneously.

Start Small

Effective leaders and managers manage their own development by focusing on the power of habit.

Our brains aren't able to intensely focus on many different tasks at once. For instance, you are unlikely to succeed in casting vision, creating clear expectations, and encouraging everyone on your team if you are intensely focused on learning and implementing all three.

To overcome this limitation, pick just one thing and practice it regularly until it becomes a habit.

For example: Want to work on encouraging others?  Practice saying thank you and recognizing values-in-action at least three times every day. Once thanking and encouraging others becomes a habit, then you're ready to tackle another item.

It Takes Time

Effective leadership is not built overnight. As we build productive habits we will face challenges that throw us off our game. Be patient with yourself and when you get distracted, go back to your habit - start small and pick one way you can exercise that habit today.

You Can Do This!

Begin small.

Begin today.

You can do this. I know you can.

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Four Key Practices for Every Organizational Leader

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If you're leading an organization - whether a team, a company, or a group of volunteers - there are four things the organization requires to be successful. Effective organizational leaders consistently do these four things:

1. Focus on Results

Your organization exists to accomplish something. Organizational leaders keep everyone focused on those results. They will make changes in systems or personnel if either hinder the team's ultimate purpose.

Why does your team exist? What does it accomplish or produce outside of itself?

2. Develop People

People are the most important resource in any organization. Effective organizational leaders devote a significant amount of their time to ensuring people are properly trained, equipped with the resources they need, and matured as leaders.

Do your team members have the skills and resources they need to be effective? Who will carry the team's vision when you are gone? Are they carrying that vision now?

3. Cultivate Values

Every group of people has a culture of how it conducts business, how people treat each other, and how problems are resolved. Values are the foundation of this culture. Too often, values are just words on a wall. Effective organizational leaders consistently model, reinforce, and celebrate organizational values. As a result, they grow an organizational culture.

What are the unwritten rules in your team? How do people treat one another? How are problems resolved?

4. Promote Organizational Learning

Effective organizations regularly evaluate themselves against their environment and their own goals. Organizational leaders promote learning, not just at the individual level, but at the level of the team/organization. Effective leaders do not waste time placing blame for past problems, but continually ask their teams to think about how things can be done more effectively in the future.

How do you institutionalize learning? How does your team discover what worked and why it worked? How do they address future improvements?

More Than the Sum of Its Parts

Organizations are more than just a collection of individuals. They develop a life and energy of their own. As an organizational leader, your role is to actively develop that energy and keep it focused.

Take care,

David M. Dye

Know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog?

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Book Review: How to Win Friends and Influence People

There are few books in the self-help genre as widely known as the subject of today's book review: Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People.

While it is a classic, I have to admit that I steered clear of it and did not read this one for many years. I found the title off-putting and perhaps manipulative. Some part of me just felt that we don't want to "win" friends as much as build friendships.

I'm reviewing How to Win Friends and Influence People because new leaders and managers are almost certain to have it recommended, there are genuinely helpful tidbits throughout the book, and I want to provide some information so you can prioritize it with your other reading.

The first thing to understand about Carnegie's classic is that it is written from a sales perspective. Whether you are corporate rep selling products, a fund raiser selling a cause, or a politician selling ideas, How to Win Friends is written with you in mind. You are not necessarily looking to build long-term friendships, but do need to establish rapport and trust if you are to succeed in your work.

That is what How to Win Friends and Influence People is really about. In my opinion it is a book on effective salesmanship, not necessarily effective leadership.

With that in mind, 80 years after it was written, many of Carnegie's concepts remain beneficial in most human relationships. A small sampling: show interest in the other person, help people get what they want, remember their name, admit it when you're wrong, be friendly and positive, don't argue, know your audience, etc.

On the topic of knowing your audience...there is one audience that will probably not care for this book: analytic personalities.

The writing style is packed with anecdotal stories illustrating concepts. It can feel like you're sitting with a friendly talkative uncle and at times you want to say, "Uncle, I get it! Can you move on to the next concept?" For analytic types, this way of writing can feel forced, disingenuous, and lacks the hard data to be convincing.

Carnegie even suggests that when trying to persuade, one should use stories, not logic. Again, for most people, stories that create emotional appeal or connection are legitimately more persuasive. But for some, the logic and data are vital.

Overall, I would recommend at least a quick skim of How to Win Friends and Influence People because it is so widely read and there are a number of common-sense suggestions which, if you aren't familiar with them, are very helpful. But when you read it, keep in mind it's goal is more about creating surface-level sales relationships than building deep friendships or establishing leadership credibility.

Happy Reading!

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

A $15 Mistake Worth a Fortune

Photo by A. MacRae

When I was sixteen I learned a vital management lesson.

I was working graveyard shifts at a gas station. Early one night a group of boys bought a couple dollars of merchandise and paid with a twenty dollar bill.

Two minutes later, a paramedic came in to pay for his gas and informed me that the same boys were outside celebrating their good fortune. It seemed that a dumb clerk (me!) had given then change for a $20 when they had only paid with a $5.

I recorded the error and, in the morning when the store manager came in, I reported my mistake. Sure enough, I was missing $15.00. Although this was my largest error, I had been short several times before.

Then my manager did an interesting thing. He took me to his office, had me sit down, and said something I've never forgotten:

"You're a bright kid and I know you can handle what I'm about to tell you...When an employee isn't doing something, there's one of two reasons. It's either will or skill. Either they don't want to do it, or they don't know how." He let that hang in the air a moment, and then asked which I thought applied to my situation.

I was never more than a few pennies off from then on. For me, it wasn't about the skill to make change accurately, but it was a matter of being motivated enough to pay attention to what I was doing.

Effective managers believe in their staff and understand that their team members require both will and skill.

Will is a matter of motivation, environment, and desire. Skill is the practical ability, training, and resources to do something.

However, emerging managers (and many a frustrated veteran) often address the wrong issue when trying to help their employees. Providing training when a person lacks motivation won't help. Creative incentives or consequences when the real problem is a lack of resources or training won't help.

Next time a team member is struggling, take time to analyze the situation. Is it will or is it skill?

If you want to learn more, I encourage you to look at Influencer for a thorough approach to will and skill.

David M. Dye

If you know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog, please retweet, like, share, +1, or email it on. Thanks!


Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @davidmdye
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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.