Assume Intelligence

The mark of a good manager is commitment to the team. Managers that can guide and motivate a team have the ability to drive bigger efforts and achieve higher levels of impact - for longer - than an individual can. But only if you have a positive mindset about their capabilities.

Which brings me to today's Monday Mantra: Assume Intelligence (aka Baby on Board).

When someone on your team does something frustrating or causes a problem that requires your attention, is your initial reaction to think 'What the heck are they doing? Are they out of their mind?' Be honest. I don't think I've met a person that hasn't had this reaction when frustrated, and I know a CEO or 3 that have made this a key topic in kick off meetings.

As a manager though, it is your responsibility to step back and assess the situation - to assume your staff is intelligent and acted for a well-intentioned reason. Why? Beyond the obvious reason that your staff is intelligent - otherwise they wouldn't be there - you need to consider what happens if you simply REACT.

When managers get frustrated and react, staff are more likely to hide things, turn down their work level or flat out leave. And if it turns out your staff did the right thing (no matter how frustrating the situation it caused), you break trust. So before you react:

1. Determine Intent: What was the objective of the decision that has frustrated you? It is probable that your staff was trying to doing something to help the company, the team or an individual when things went sideways.
2. Analyze Actions: Why were specific things done? This is usually where trouble starts. They do something good, but do it in the wrong way (e.g. skip a review process, take an aggressive vs. diplomatic tact) or their actions are perceived incorrectly (no situational context) / move someone's cheese (changes established, but outmoded processes).
3. Plot Remediation: How can you resolve the issue? If your team did something wrong, knowing intent and action can go a long way to explaining the situation and resolving the issue. If your team did something right, but someone else didn't like it, you now have the data points to turn things around.

Notice I didn't say yell at someone. You may want to, but as a manager you need to treat all but the most egregious actions as 'teachable moments' to educate staff and help them become future managers. And if it turns out your team was in the right? You don't want to mea culpa.

Net - In today's hectic environment it's easy to be a 'frustrated driver' who starts complaining because the person ahead of them is going just below the speed limit. But if you assume intelligence and observe the situation, you might see they are transporting something fragile; a loved one coming from the hospital; our future - a baby on board. And honestly, we should all slow down to ensure the safety of our future.

Have a great week and be the leader your people need you to be.