How To Make Sure That Your Best Ideas Are Acted Upon

““You can observe a lot by watching.”” – Yogi BerraThere are many benefits to being the boss, but one of the major drawbacks is that your subordinates may not always be honest with you. In an effort to seem agreeable, they may say “yes” to you when they are thinking “no.” Or they may naively assume that since you are smart enough to be the boss, your ideas are always going to be good ones.This could damage your chance of success.Sure, your ideas were important in starting your business, but it was your tenacity that made it all happen. Trust your experience, but allow that some of the ideas you got through experience may need a little fine-tuning.

Don’’t let anyone tell you how smart you are. Surround yourself with the best people and encourage them to treat your ideas as you treat theirs – with respect enough to CHALLENGE them. (If you work “for yourself,” this applies to your vendors and anyone else you run your ideas by.)

We have spent a lot of time talking about how to improve your support group, – how to increase its productivity, sharpen its skills, and make its members care more about the desired outcome. We’’ve also fired the weakest member and thanked the strongest. You should have a good group working well.

But you need more. You need for those people to provide you with honest feedback on your own contributions. So do this: Ask yourself honestly if your key people are regularly challenging your ideas.

If not – if they tend to defer to you –sit them down and take responsibility for turning them into cheerleaders instead of challengers. Apologize and then ask for their support in the future. Talk about how the group could best discuss and evaluate new ideas. Do for yourself what you will do for them.

If you do, your business will prosper and you won’t have to worry about wasting time, resources, and possibly big money pursuing bad ideas – even if they are yours.

[Ed. Note: Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]