I was thinking today about a company I worked with awhile back which
had an incredible (?!) CEO.  He was one of those people who’s always
right.  I’m not sure he’d ever made a mistake in anything in his entire
life, and he was 100% closed to anyone’s opinion but his own.

Of course you know I’m speaking tongue-in-cheek.  If I was involved,
you know this company was in trouble.  But that wasn’t his fault.  It
had been a bad year in the whole industry, and the economy was in a
tailspin, and the light was dim, and his foot slipped, and …  you get
the idea.

As you can imagine, we had to replace the CEO to save the business.

Now, today’s thought isn’t about arrogant managers per se.  It’s
about walking that fine line (both yourself and with people you hire.) 
If you don’t hire a confident, competent manager, nothing will ever get
done, and your business will languish.  On the other hand, if you get
someone like our friend who was always right, the business (the manager
really) will never make the adjustments necessary to make the business
successful.

So how do we walk the razor’s edge?  If you’re the boss, and if
nobody’s ever told you they think you’re wrong (in your direction, or
assessments, or whatever,) you might have cause to be concerned.  It
can mean three things: 1) you really are the amazing manager who never
made a mistake (unlikely,) or 2) your employees are afraid to tell you
what they really think (which was the case above,) or 3) your employees
are clueless (in which case your business is in trouble from the bottom
up.)

Let’s throw out option one and agree that you’re not perfect.  Of
the two that are left, I don’t know which is worse.  In option two you
don’t take advantage of the existing knowledge / experience base, and
in case number three, you can’t take advantage of it (because it
doesn’t exist.)  The net result of both those scenarios is the same: 
you lose.

Let me tell you about my first experience as “the boss.”  I took
over as CEO of the company the first time in my career at 27 years
old.  I was in an industry where I didn’t have very much experience (at
27 you don’t have much experience regardless,) and I had several people
working for me who knew way more than I did about their respective
areas of responsibility.  I decided then and there I needed their help
and input.

We set some good, healthy, ground rules.  First, it was okay to
disagree with the concept, not the person.  Second, any disagreement
had to be presented in a dignified, respectful way (meaning it wasn’t
okay to use words like stupid, lame, ridiculous, etc.).  Third, if you
were shooting down the original proposal, you had to have a better (at
least in your own mind) idea.

Having that system in place allowed me (and all the other managers)
to get input on virtually every idea without being threatened from
within.  We were a team — looking for the best solution to a problem. 
Nobody got beat up, nobody go abused, and we always managed to get to
the best solution to a problem before we were done.

That has become my way of doing business.  I want to know what
everyone thinks.  Even the guy who sweeps the floors at night knows
things you don’t — things that will help you.  If you start to think
you know it all, or that your way is always the best way, or that you
have the market cornered on good ideas, then you are part of (probably
most of) the problem.

Stop right now and ask your management team how they feel about the
way things are going.  Ask them what could be improved.  Ask them how
you could help them succeed in their jobs.  Ask them what they’d do
differently if they were in charge.  Ask those questions both
one-on-one and in a group setting.  You’ll be surprised at what you get.

I remember back to my early management days, when one senior manager
came to me and told me he was quitting.  When I asked why, he replied,
“You don’t need me.”  That sounded absolutely ridiculous to me.  Of
course I needed him.  When I asked why he felt that way he said, “You
are a great manager and a great leader.  You can do more all by
yourself than anybody I’ve ever met.  You could easily to do your job
and mine, and it would probably be done better than if I stayed and did
it myself.”

Now, what he was saying had nothing to do with my abilities.  It had
to do with the fact that he didn’t feel like part of the team.  I
wasn’t asking his opinion.  I wasn’t including him on important
decisions.  In short, I wasn’t letting him be part of the team.  Had I
meant to do that?  Of course not.  I was trying to be efficient and
effective and get things done and move the business forward, etc.,
etc., etc.,  But in the process, I was leaving many creative, talented,
capable people behind, and they were feeling it.

When you “run the whole show,” you leave many high quality people
behind.  Some, like my good friend, will come and tell you.  Others
will just drift away.  Before you know it, you really will be doing it
yourself.  And my friend’s words to the contrary, you really do need
those people.  You really can’t do this yourself.  You will never reach
your full potential as a leader and as a business until you are secure
enough in yourself and your situation to invite input from those around
you.

Commit today to talk to your employees, especially your managers. 
They are the ones who are going to take you into the future.  In many
ways, they’re taking you along with them, not vice-versa.