What is your vision for your team, your colleagues, yourself? Short term and long term. Do you have ideas for what could make a real difference, but you’ve kept them to yourself?
I’m thinking of “Ray” and “Regina” – leaders in different roles, different industries – frustrated with people they work with because those people think status quo is fine, they don’t want to rock the boat. Yet, Ray and Regina have visions of possibilities that could streamline workflows, increase accuracy, improve relationships across work groups, and more.
When they describe what they think is possible, their energy shifts. They are clear, enthusiastic. Would they benefit from bouncing their ideas off trusted colleagues to hear others’ perspectives? Yes. Have they done that yet? No. They’re holding it close. Why?
They think they haven’t thought it through enough. They have to have more answers before floating the idea. Or, they think others may have thought about it, but haven’t said anything because it’s not doable, expensive, wrong timing, or a host of other reasons.
When you have an idea you think has merit, what do you do? Do you bounce it off a trusted colleague (or more than one) to discuss possibilities? Do you ask for their perspective? Rarely will people decline giving their perspective if asked for it.
What might you learn – and how might you benefit – if you were to talk about your vision of what you view as possible, and its potential impact, with others? Maybe, if you put your heads together, you could come up with even better ideas. What might that lead to?
