LEAD BY GIVING PERMISSION
We've all heard the following phrase on how to get things done in the corporate world, "Ask for forgiveness instead of permission." I've thought about this statement for quite some time and it's always bothered me. It makes me contemplate two different questions:
Why should I have to ask for forgiveness if I've done something of value?
Why didn't I have permission to begin with?
If you've read any of my writing you know that I feel very strongly about environmental factors as it relates to leadership competency. In other words, great leaders focus a significant amount of their time creating and maintaining environments that allow their people to be successful. In this case, it's giving people permission to do the things that create success. These permissions may include:
Freedom to disagree
Surface problems
Present crazy ideas
Challenge the status quo
Present without using power point (what a novel idea!)
Giving Permission is a key component of creating a "success oriented" environment. To lead by giving permission, leaders must follow three simple rules:
1. Communicate the Permissions Clearly, Consistently and Often - It is critical set expectations and to create a safe environment for people to truly feel they have permission to behave in certain ways. Depending on your culture and past history, they may not believe it until they see it in action but you have to set the tone first. These permissions must be clearly and consistently communicated throughout the employee life cycle (i.e. recruiting, onboarding, goal setting, coaching, meetings, post meeting discussions, project charters, project updates, discussing problems/opportunities, performance reviews, etc.)
2. Be Accountable - Words are meaningless if your actions don't align. Make sure you give permission to your employees to call you out for not staying true to your commitments. If you do stumble and an employee brings it up , you need to thank them for pointing out your failure, say you are sorry and that you will correct it immediately (this is critical for success!) Admitting that you are not perfect and thanking them for the feedback is crucial to getting employees to believe you are serious about giving permission.
3. Reward and Recognize Desired Behaviors - Make sure your reward and recognize the behaviors you desire. Employees at first will think it's risky to disagree with you or try something that could easily fail. You need to celebrate these new behaviors and encourage more of them. New behaviors are like habits. You have to break the old ones by rewarding the new ones. I'm talking about simple rewards that are no cost and high impact. Things like, "Thank you for disagreeing with me! Tell me more!" or "I'm so happy that you tried that. Even though it didn't quite turn out like you thought, what did you learn from it that we can use moving forward?" These are simple but very powerful. Do not underestimate the power of your words!
Suggestion to Consider - Why not create actual laminated permission slips and give them out to your employees? They can carry it with them and use it before discussing a topic or idea. It is a fun way to help create a safe environment where people can feel comfortable discussing things that are usually uncomfortable. Most of the time, effective leadership is simply giving people permission to do what's best for the organization and then get out of their way!
Give it a try and follow the three simple rules! You have permission!