Leaders Can’t Care What Other People Think

When you’re a true leader capable of making and sticking to decisions, you’re going to hear a lot of people call you crazy. No matter how practical or exciting your ideas might be to you, there will always be people who want to provide input, change your mind, or tell you that you’re wrong.

It’s your choice whether you listen to them. One thing is certain, though: True leaders don’t have any concern for the opinions of naysayers and detractors. They’re only concerned with taking the right course of action.

Breaking Away from It All
Twenty years ago, I was immersed in corporate life in Washington, D.C. I was a manager at a telecom company that employed 80,000 people and enjoyed a lot of success. It also had a lot of processes, protocols, and politics.

I was earning good money, driving a BMW, attending graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, and working on major accounts. If things continued along that path, I would retire in 30 years with a nice pension.

Six years after joining the company, disillusionment began to creep in. All of the 15-hour days left me feeling like a robot, and my sales quota began to dominate my thinking. There was no room in my life for creativity or imagination.

I began to question whether I was interested in telecom at all. I was in my twenties and already had all the outer signs of success, but something was missing on the inside. Fantasies of burning my suits and running away to the mountains, where I could work and meditate, began to take shape.

Then, I did it.

I quit my job, dropped out of school, traded the BMW for a used pickup truck, sold everything I owned, and headed for Boulder, Colo.

Everyone thought I was out of my mind, and they weren’t afraid to let me know it. My friends thought I’d lost it, my parents were furious, and my colleagues were certain that I’d had some kind of meltdown. They all tried to talk me out of it or push me to find some middle ground that wasn’t so drastic. Some of their arguments made sense, and there were even times when I was tempted to give in and listen. But in the end, I knew that I had to ignore all of the criticism and do what was right for me.

Upon arriving in Boulder, I took six months off to rest, bike, meditate, and hike through the mountains. Once I felt refreshed, I joined my first tech startup, and — just like that — I had found my calling. Two decades have passed, and I’m still in Boulder, living a life filled with passion for my work, my family, and my town. Life is 10 times better than it was in D.C., and I’m grateful that I had the strength and integrity to stay true to my opinion and follow my values.

Ignore the Naysayers: Their Real Concern Isn’t for You
True leaders will hear a lot of talk from naysayers, as was the case in my situation. They ask questions that might sound supportive or protective, but there’s always an underlying sense of defeatism. You might hear things such as: Do you really know what you’re doing? Do you really have enough experience to do that? Shouldn’t you play it safe? But what you’re really being asked is: Who are you to expect that you can achieve what others can’t?

Beware of this sort of talk because — deep down — these people, while sincere and innocent, may unconsciously be looking to validate their own need to play it safe. When you take on the impossible, succeed, and prove that anything is possible, you terrify the people who live on security and predictability.

Know When to Have Open Ears
When you’re a leader, you can’t just shut out the world, of course. There are people you should listen to.

First of all, you have to consider your customers. While you can’t please them all, remember that they are the reason your company exists. Take their feedback into account through every stage of your company’s growth. The customers who are the hardest to please will provide the most feedback, and if you can satisfy them, the rest of your customers will probably be happy, too.

You should also listen to people who have similar values and have achieved something comparable to what you’re trying to do. The best advice comes from people who have faced the same challenges and overcome them using values that match up with your own. How you handle a challenge is just as important as the result.

Knowing How to Keep It Real
It can be difficult to know whether you’re sticking to an approach because you’re convinced it’s the right thing to do or because you think it will gain someone else’s approval. So ask yourself: Will this take me one step closer to my dream, or will it just raise me in the eyes of another?

You can still give someone’s advice genuine consideration and choose not to act on it.

That’s not being indifferent — that’s being a leader.

 

 

 Posted by:

Holly Hamann

Schmooze or Lose: How the Lost Art of Negotiation Led to a Shutdown

By Jack and Suzy Welch

With all the finger-pointing and name-calling going on in Washington these days, it’s hard to believe a delegation of kindergarten teachers from Dubuque hasn’t arrived to put an end to the nonsense. But no. The blame game goes on and on and the government stays shuttered.

And meanwhile, the people watching the story play out – and, we would say, especially leaders in business – might be missing the most important lesson of it all.

You have to schmooze.

Clarification: You have to schmooze early and often. You can’t suddenly burst out of your office to build relationships when you hear rumbles of trouble from down below, and it’s certainly too late by the time a crisis flares. No, schmoozing has to be what you do all the time as a leader; it has to be a massive part of your job. Walking around, having a coffee, sitting and listening, getting real, letting people get real with you. Showing who you are, what you care about, exposing your hopes and dreams and values. Asking people the same about themselves.

Building — in two big fat words — trust and transparency.

And look, we’re not talking about the standard, ho-ho-ho kind of social schmoozing you do with your customers and your team and your boss. That’s easy. That’s like President Obama schmoozing with Nancy Pelosi, or John Boehner schmoozing with Eric Cantor.

Leaders have to do something harder and more essential; something that can feel awkward at first. You have to schmooze with your known “adversaries” too, say, for instance, your union, or the group of employees who hate your new strategy and want the old one back. The resistors that exist in every organization. The perennial naysayers. Smart and annoying. Them.

Because if you don’t schmooze with friend and foe alike as a leader, unpleasant or wildly inefficient as it may seem, one day a crisis will come and, without thriving relationships and ongoing dialogue, it will shut you down, be it in the grand corridors of Capitol Hill or over in the three cramped rooms you call headquarters.

Here’s an example of what we mean. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, GE was plagued by strikes. That changed in the ‘80s when the senior team made it a priority to meet with the unions at every possible opportunity. The idea was to create constant, candid dialogue about values and goals, treating union leaders with the dignity and respect they deserved, whether it was at the plant or national level.
 

There wasn’t a strike at GE for 21 years. Did that mean management and labor suddenly started to see eye-to-eye? Hardly. But where there had been suspicion and wariness, there now was transparency and trust. No more “first dates” every three years, sitting grimly across from each other at the bargaining table. Schmoozing had smoothed the way.

Now, we’re not Luddites. We love dashing off an email and texting can’t be beat for efficiency. Y call Sally abt her promotion when u can just send a :-) ?

But the day Sally has a bone to pick with you about a new initiative or a promotion she didn’t get – and she’s ready to start building a coalition around her position – a :-) isn’t going to cut it. She needs to have seen you smile in person, and heard your voice and mind – and you need to have seen and heard and known her too.

People will always have legitimate differences. What’s happening in Washington right now is, underneath it all, based on them. But for leaders, the building of transparency and trust is what makes those differences negotiable.

It turns foes into friends with different opinions.

Jack Welch is Founder and Distinguished Professor at the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University. Through its executive education and Welch Way management training programs, the Jack Welch Management Institute provides students and organizations with the proven methodologies, immediately actionable practices, and respected credentials needed to win in the most demanding global business environments.

Suzy Welch is a best-selling author, popular television commentator, and noted business journalist. Her New York Times bestselling book, 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea, presents a powerful decision-making strategy for success at work and in parenting, love and friendship. Together with her husband Jack Welch, Suzy is also co-author of the #1 international bestseller Winning, and its companion volume, Winning: The Answers. Since 2005, they have written business columns for several publications, including Business Week magazine, Thomson Reuters digital platforms, Fortune magazine, and the New York Times syndicate.
 

Posted by:Jack Welch