Renowned coach, Marshall Goldsmith, has launched a blog and I'll be a regular reader. One of his first columns, "Let Others Win," struck a chord with me. In the post he described a dinner conversation:
The two men at dinner were clearly on the same wavelength. One of them was my friend Jon Katzenbach, the former McKinsey & Co. director who now heads his own elite consulting boutique. The other was Niko Canner, his brilliant partner. They were planning a new venture. But something about their conversation was slightly off. When Niko floated ideas, Jon tended to interrupt him. "That's a great idea," Jon would say, "but it might work better if you . . ." and then he would share a different way to tackle the issue. When he finished, Niko would pick up where he left off, only to be interrupted by Jon again. Back and forth it went, like a long rally at Wimbledon.
He went on to write:
Ordinarily, I keep quiet, but Jon was exhibiting classic smart-person behavior. When Niko left the table, I laughed and said, "Jon, perhaps you should just go with Niko's ideas. Stop trying to add so much value to the discussion."
In my experience, one of the most common challenges that successful people face is a constant need to win.
Marshall makes a great point and one worth noting when he says:
The problem is, while they [leaders] may have improved the idea by 5%, they've reduced the employee's commitment to executing it by 30%, because they've taken away that person's ownership of the idea. Therein lies the fallacy of added value: Whatever is gained in the form of a better idea may be lost six times over in the employee's diminished enthusiasm for the concept.
Why should marketing directors care about this idea? As stated earlier, Marshall is a very successful and world-renowned coach. And, I've never known a successful marketing director who wasn't, at their core, a coach. In our role, we have to convincingly persuade partners and often cajole associates or other junior level professionals while leading our marketing staff. It's a balancing act but one that is rewarding if you focus on letting the other guy win.
Letting the other guy win means embracing the marketing/biz development ideas of others and adding that 5% of extra value behind the scenes - without verbally stepping on the idea and without claiming any credit for the extra added value. Speaking of credit, give credit to others lavishly - we all instinctively know this but many find it hard to do. You have to make others look good so that ideas will come from every corner of the office (you don't have a monopoly on good ideas and the more ideas, the better).
At the end of the day, it's your job to implement ideas that make the phone ring. Therefore, it's not your job to come up with all the ideas. Don't put that pressure on yourself. You add real value by knowing when an marketing/biz development idea has legs and then to making it happen.
Remember, if the phone is ringing, you are a genius. And if you are giving the credit to others, you are a secure and gracious genius.
Have a great day,
Barbara Walters Price
Barbara:
Just because the phone is ringing doesn't necessarily mean you're a genius....it might be the bill collector's!
Patrick McEvoy
Posted by: Patrick McEvoy | February 10, 2006 at 04:21 AM