Bob shared these thoughts with me, from one of his classes. Some of the thoughts are from his class, some are his own notes about the reading assignment. It gave me a lot to think about.
Marshal Goldsmith – When should you keep your ideas to yourself?
Sometimes we should keep our mouths shut when someone comes to us with an idea. It is easy to see an area that can be improved upon, but when we make a suggestion it tends to diminish the individual's fire and commitment to “their” idea. What we may gain in effectiveness we often lose, plus more, in drive and passion. Look in the person’s eyes and ask yourself “will my ‘added value’ make this person more, or less committed to doing a great job?” If they are so committed and excited about what they’re doing that your suggestion takes their ownership away, keep your mouth shut.
Always ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” Am I saying this to make our team more effective or just to add to conversation and show how smart I am?
In our families always ask, “Do they really care about the sermon I’m about to deliver or am I just annoying them?” If they're not receptive, just take a deep breath and let it go.
“Achievement is all about me, leadership is all about them.” Why not drop all communication about “how smart, special, or wonderful I am,” or “how bad, stupid, or inept someone else is?”
About 60% of interpersonal communication is about those two topics. That’s a lot of life to waste on two unbeneficial topics. Put your energy into things where you can make a difference, not things that do not make any improvement.
Marshal Goldsmith – When should you keep your ideas to yourself?
Sometimes we should keep our mouths shut when someone comes to us with an idea. It is easy to see an area that can be improved upon, but when we make a suggestion it tends to diminish the individual's fire and commitment to “their” idea. What we may gain in effectiveness we often lose, plus more, in drive and passion. Look in the person’s eyes and ask yourself “will my ‘added value’ make this person more, or less committed to doing a great job?” If they are so committed and excited about what they’re doing that your suggestion takes their ownership away, keep your mouth shut.
Always ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” Am I saying this to make our team more effective or just to add to conversation and show how smart I am?
In our families always ask, “Do they really care about the sermon I’m about to deliver or am I just annoying them?” If they're not receptive, just take a deep breath and let it go.
“Achievement is all about me, leadership is all about them.” Why not drop all communication about “how smart, special, or wonderful I am,” or “how bad, stupid, or inept someone else is?”
About 60% of interpersonal communication is about those two topics. That’s a lot of life to waste on two unbeneficial topics. Put your energy into things where you can make a difference, not things that do not make any improvement.
1 comment:
I like these thoughts. I just started 7 Habits for the first time and am really enjoying the insights. These just add to that.
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