The Vulnerability of Sharing Ideas: Part 2 - How leaders can help increase their innovation

This is part 2 of a 2 part series on the Vulnerability of Sharing Ideas. Yesterday, I shared the introduction to the topic and things that we as individuals can do to overcome our vulnerability when sharing ideas. I highly encourage you to read part 1 first. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/vulnerability-sharing-ideas-how-increase-innovation-through-mann/

Background

If you haven't read part 1 of this series on Vulnerability of Sharing Ideas, I do highly encourage it. But to make this make sense if you don't, then there is a little bit of background needed.

At the Global Leadership Conference 2018, Carla Harris, Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, talked about how diversity can help breed innovation. I paraphrase her thoughts this way - Innovation comes from many ideas, ideas come from many perspectives, and perspectives comes from many experiences.

As leaders, it is not an option, but rather an imperative for the success of our teams and our businesses that we are encouraging more ideas in our companies. If all the ideas come from the top, we will soon crumble. We won't be able to adapt if a handful of people are the only ones who contribute to innovation.

How do we change this? We encourage vulnerability to increase ideas from EVERYONE in our organization. Below are 4 ways to do this.

How do we increase ideas as leaders and encourage the vulnerability?

1. Listen, not just hear.

Often we just hear. We are not giving someone our full attention. We are thinking about our next meeting, that email that just came in, or even about lunch. We hear the words that are said but we are not engaged. If the person asks "are you listening?" we are quick to respond "yes" followed by repeating back what they said in a defensive tone.

We need to learn to actively listen. We need to learn to ask questions for clarity, seek the heart of what they are sharing, and most important listen to understand rather than listening to refute, to fix or solve, to argue, or other reasons we try to listen.

For more about where I think we are falling short on this topic, read my previous post "Why we aren't listening anymore"

2. Highlight the good points before refining anything.

The struggle is real on this topic. Very often I find we jump right into trying to improve the idea. That is in part because we are listening to fix or solve as I mentioned. We need to always highlight the good points about the idea before trying to jump in and provide what we think is constructive feedback.

If we first strive to understand the idea and even harder, understand the purpose, goal or heart behind it, then we can more easily show the person sharing that we like their thought process and where they are going and maybe the problem they are trying to solve. Even if you think the idea is flat out bad, the heart behind the idea is almost always a positive direction. You want, rather you need to foster this sharing when you see it. You need to ensure to encourage this vulnerability. It took courage for them to share this time, and by encouraging them you are enabling them with courage for the next time.

If you do think the idea has some good merits, make sure to highlight those. Talk first about the heart and then about where the idea is good, what it brings to the table. Maybe propose bringing it to a larger or different audience. All of this ensures you do not dismiss an idea outright without consideration.

3. I notice. You matter. (Craig Groeschel)

One of the other speakers at the #GLS18 conference, Craig Groeschel, talked about a key concept for employee recognition - "I notice. You matter." This is the act of telling your employees that you notice a specific thing they did and communicating to them that the work, and them as a person, matter to your organization. In this case of sharing ideas, it is great to say "I notice you thinking outside of your role/comfort zone and trying to help the organization/client in a new way. This is great! This is how we can really accomplish <company's purpose or goal>! Your contributions really matter to achieving that and I am really glad you are on our team!"

Communicating that you notice the vulnerability and the value of them even sharing an idea, regardless of the idea, can go a long way towards encouraging more ideas in the future.

4. Share your ideas in front of groups - Lead by example

How often do we expect people to share ideas, but they don't see us doing it? We need to be the first ones willing to speak up. Now this can be difficult in some cases because if we are sharing our ideas too much, we can smother the conversation and put out any sparks going off in the people we are trying to encourage.

The best way to show this, is if there is a context where you disagree with a superior in a group context (where appropriate), then respectfully be vulnerable and share your disagreement. The team may see what you are doing as vulnerable and be encouraged by it. When you are the superior on the call, sit back and let others contribute. Even if it creates an awkward silence - embrace the awkward :)

Do you struggle at sharing your own ideas? Go back and read part 1 of this series to see my thoughts on how to personally increase our ability to share ideas through vulnerability

What do you think of this idea?

Did I miss the mark? Do you feel vulnerable sharing ideas? What have your experiences been in this arena? Share your thoughts below or private messsage me! I would love to hear!