The Value of Team Member Input

One of the inescapable responsibilities of leadership is the need to make decisions. Whether highly impactful or more mundane, executive leaders are constantly faced with choices about any number of issues, challenges, and opportunities. Is this as it should be and if so, what is the best approach?

First things first. Many successful executives continuously monitor the number and potential impact of the decisions they make. The objective here is to focus on the most impactful decisions and to consciously limit the number of decisions they make on a regular basis. Their reasons are two-fold.

First, the more accomplished the leadership team is, the more they can be relied upon to make key decisions about many aspects of the business. This is especially true for tactical decisions for which they should be prepared.

Strategic decisions, those that can have a significant impact of the future direction of the enterprise are reserved for the consideration of the executive leader.

On the matter of collaborative decision making, highly successful leaders have a sound approach. While they are comfortable with the responsibility for making key decisions and confident in their ability to do so, they tend not to do it in a vacuum. Through a structured process (when time allows) or in a more ad hoc way when deadlines loom, leaders analyze available data and other key inputs. They also reach out to their team members to get their thoughts on the matter at hand. But they do so with this critically important caveat.

Each team member’s thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and recommendations are listened to, evaluated and considered. Even though the leader may (and often will) decide something different, that doesn’t mean the input received has been ignored or devalued. Quite the contrary and for this reason.

These highly effective leaders give full and careful consideration to all the input they receive before making a key decision. These are raw material for a comprehensive decision-making process. They tend to influence the leaders’ thinking and often help identify potential pitfalls and consequences of the choice they are gong to make. Communicating this back to team members is essential. Here’s why.

When asked for input, it’s natural for people to feel disappointed if their ideas are not acted upon. “Why bother,” they may think. Effective leaders recognize this and are quick to communicate that while the ultimate decision went another way (this time), the input they received did indeed influence the process and will likely lead to a more productive outcome.

For more information on how highly effective leaders collaborate with team members for better outcomes, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com