In the last blog, we talked about using intentional learning to immerse yourself in every aspect of your organization and I hope you took some time to answer the questions at the end of the post. As you go through this learning agenda you will undoubtedly come up with great ideas, initiatives and projects that will instantly add value to the organization. This can create some excitement for you and those around you.
Before you launch into implementation, I recommend that you ask yourself the following question:
“Who else do I need to talk to?”
Take baseball’s great hitters as an example. When they go up to bat they are full of adrenaline and ready to hit a home run. But the truly great ones know that it’s critical to wait that extra split second before swinging. Doing so allows them to see what kind of pitch is coming their way and that makes all the difference.
In business, waiting that extra beat can have the same result. Let me give you an example.
Not long ago I worked with a leader named John. He had recently joined an organization in a new leadership role. After pausing to survey the landscape of his new company, he conceived a great idea on how to pull together a wide range of data sources to create weekly key performance indicators. This was an important initiative and as he socialized it through the company he gained traction and enthusiasm.
Naturally, John was excited and thought, “This is it!” But then he paused and asked the question, “Who else do I need to talk to?” It led him to a different department in a level lower in the organization, where he discovered the key data source he needed was only available monthly. That insight changed his whole early win strategy and gave him the information he needed to rethink and refine his strategy and maximize the success of his initiative.
Bill Joiner, a partner at Boston-based Changewise and co-author of the book Leadership Agility, frames the concept of asking who else you need to talk to as stakeholder agility, a key component in leadership success.
He defines stakeholder agility as the ability to “identify the key stakeholders of an initiative, understand what they have at stake, and assess the extent to which their views and objectives are aligned with their own.” Identifying stakeholders, understanding their needs and resolving differences is where true success resides for both your initiative and your ability to lead. Before you take your swing, take the step to ask the question. Doing so will make all the difference.
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