LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND

The person with the title doesn't automatically have the best answer.

Active listening is more than hearing someone speak. It means giving them your attention long enough to understand what they're seeing, why they're suggesting it, and what they may know that you don't.

The person closest to the work may see something the person leading the operation cannot.

Listen. Ask why. Understand the thinking. Then decide.

Sometimes that conversation changes the workflow.

Sometimes it identifies a risk before it becomes a problem.

Sometimes it produces a faster or better way to execute the work.

Sometimes it teaches the leader something.

And sometimes you listen, understand the idea, and still say no.

That's leadership.

THE OPERATING CODE  |  004

THE PRINCIPLE

You don't have to agree with the idea to benefit from hearing it.

Listening creates information.

Information creates better decisions.

Better decisions create better execution.

And sometimes, the person who changes the way you think about the work is the person standing beside you.