As an engineer who would do anything to make sure my product worked, and as a manager who would do anything to make sure my team’s project succeeded, I was taken aback by something my boss told me when I began leading other leaders.
“Steve,” he said, “sometimes you need to let your direct report fail.”
This was the same leader who sometimes described the process of business decision making as “playing chess.”
What he understood – and what he wanted me to understand – was this. Sure, as leaders it’s our job to deliver results. And that means succeeding with projects. But meeting current goals by sacrificing future successes is not a wise way to run a department.
Long-term future successes depend on having a team that exercises good judgment. As the old saying goes, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” If you want the leaders who report to you to be prepared with good judgment for their long-term growth and success, you need to let them make some decisions without stepping in to interfere.
Of course, a sensitive and high-stakes project may still warrant your own good judgment from your own experience in order to avoid a fatal failure. On the other hand, when you “keep your thumb off the scale,” as my boss used to say, you may discover that your team actually makes better decisions than you would have.
If you’d like to explore your own team and how to balance their long-term growth with your current success, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.
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