Shut Up and Let Your Team Shine
Argument for Silencing the Supervisor
Tired of being the center of your company's strategy meetings?
You're not alone, says Sanjay Khosla, an executive coach and senior fellow at the Kellogg School. Many leaders mistakenly believe that they should drive their agendas during strategic-planning meetings, and in doing so, they suppress their team's talents,.,,,
To create better company strategy, Khosla suggests a counterintuitive approach: mute the boss. By intentionally keeping silent, leaders create space for new ideas and talent development, leading to innovation.
When faced with strategic business decisions, it can be hard for some leaders to relinquish control. They've spent years honing their skills and expertise. They carry the responsibility for allocation of resources.
Despite their hard-earned position, leaders risk perpetuating a "negative spiral" of disengagement when they dominate meetings. The primary cause? They're too focused on setting the parameters of strategic conversations and not enough on creating an environment where everyone can speak their mind.
Prepare for Quiet Leadership
Embracing the concept of being muted is easier when leaders view it as creating value rather than giving up control. Khosla advises focusing on the benefits of being muted: better information and higher engagement.
A step towards this is defining the meeting's objectives with a narrow, actionable focus. A clear objective reduces the potential for getting sidetracked and improves the process for better decision-making.
Empower the Right People
Assembling a diverse team with the right mix of skills, functions, and experience for strategic-planning sessions is essential for leaders to feel comfortable being muted. This broadens the range of ideas and encourages more junior team members to offer fresh perspectives.
Brainstorming, problem-solving, and reporting back to the full team in smaller groups provides a safe environment for everyone to contribute.
Assign a Facilitator
Another crucial component is to have a meeting facilitator, a trusted, senior colleague who ensures breadth of opinions, monitors the leader's communication, and intervenes when necessary.
Know When to Speak Up
While muting yourself can be empowering for your team and spark innovation, there comes a time when you must take charge. Make decisions based on the group's consensus, review the meeting's outcomes, and reconvene with a resolution when ready.
Overall, being quiet as a leader doesn't mean losing control, but rather listening to, learning from, and empowering your team. By mute the boss, you pave the way for better decision-making, higher engagement, and successful company strategy.
Originally published in Kellogg Insight, a publication of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
Enrichment Data:
Mracting your team active contributors by temporarily muzzling yourself can lead to exciting company strategies. Here's how to successfully implement this leadership tactic:
- Clearly articulate meeting objectives and agenda.
- Assemble a diverse team.
- Assign roles during the meeting.
- Promote open discussion and encourage active listening.
- Use engaging tools.
- Record ideas for later review.
- Schedule follow-up meetings to track progress and maintain motivation.
However, keep in mind:
- Meeting duration and timing are essential to keep the meeting focused and productive.
- Ground rules establish boundaries for productive discussions.
- Follow-up meetings ensure continued progress on new initiatives.
By adopting these steps and considerations, leaders can effectively harness their team's knowledge and foster growth during strategic planning meetings.
- By intentionally staying silent during strategic-planning meetings, leaders create an environment where everyone can contribute, fostering innovation.
- Instead of dominating meetings, leaders should focus on creating an engaging environment where ideas flow freely, leading to better decision-making.
- A diverse team with the right mix of skills, functions, and experience is essential for strategic-planning sessions, encouraging fresh perspectives from junior team members.
- To further facilitate open discussion and active listening, it's beneficial to assign a meeting facilitator who ensures breadth of opinions and intervenes when necessary.
- Despite mute the boss approach, leaders must know when to take charge, making decisions based on the group's consensus, reviewing the meeting's outcomes, and reconvening when ready.
- Besides the aforementioned steps, it's crucial to clearly articulate meeting objectives and agendas, promote open discussions, use engaging tools, record ideas, and schedule follow-up meetings to track progress and maintain motivation.
- To maintain meeting focus and productivity, leaders should establish ground rules and consider meeting duration and timing.
- In strategic business decisions, it's essential for leaders to relinquish control, allocating resources wisely, and empowering their teams to create successful company strategies.
- Embracing being muted is beneficial for leaders, as it leads to better information and higher engagement within their teams.
- Although being quiet as a leader doesn't mean losing control, it indicates active listening, learning from, and empowering your team, ultimately paving the way for better decision-making, increased engagement, and successful company strategies.
