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That said, “can you do X?” usually always works. The answer is almost always yes. If it’s no, there’s probably a good reason why that lets you rethink the request.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Best" has to be subjective here? My personal favorite, combo of 2 listed, would he "I need X to happen"
> My personal favorite, combo of 2 listed, would he "I need X to happen" I had a boss who spoke like this: He was too afraid to communicate directly, so everything was implied. Instead of saying "I'm assigning X task to you" we'd have to play a game where he'd say "X is really important and it needs to be done". Then you had to ask 20 questions to extract the actual ask from him: "Okay great, should I do it" "If you…
Anyone at the end of the days it’s literally their role to handle the dysfunction and/or understand the products
In a high performance team, it's more like managing a band. The manager is not the talent. You are Brian Epstein, not John Lennon. You enable the talent. You hire smart people, give them goals and the resources they need, then get the fuck out of their way. They don't take out the trash. You do it. Or hire a janitor, since it seems you value the task; that's someone who didn't need asking, because GC is already in their JD.
So I see myself as an equal that has a different role to the others in the team.
There are occasions when there's something that breaks through that shield and then when I do ask either an individual or the team, they understand that I'm asking them to do something that I couldn't avoid or do myself.
“I need you to …” is too low level. It’s better to set the objective, how success will be measured, and who will care about it (usually a customer or partner), what the stakes are , and when we need to wrap up. If you find yourself as a manager telling people what to do and how to do it, take a step back.
Engineer: invents self-dumping garbage bags
Anybody who says 'I need you to...' goes on the list, even if they are not actually talking to me myself. But more seriously: Ensure people know what and why something is important, ideally by arriving at that conclusion jointly and as part of an overarching plan that everyone can feel involved in - thus requests shouldn't be a surprise, they aren't coming from you so much as from the plan (nebulous though it may be)…
When a specific task absolutely needs to be done, the boss asks for volunteers, delegates, or does it themselves in that order.
The era of militarist corporations dictating downward, monopolizing information like it's some fucking government intelligence agency, and employees bending the knee to inflated egos upward is over.
Bosses now are organizational and individual employee facilitators of said employees getting shit done and improvements thereof.
Laying out what milestones need to get done and helpful bits to get there without micromanaging. Checking in and asking questions if there are any blocking items is okay.
Open-mindedness, dispassionate failure analysis, and 360 feedback are important to maintain professionalism and growth.
The more trust and respect there is among a group of people, the more direct they can be with each other, without coming off as harsh. There is a lot of implicit communication in a relationship with deep trust and respect at its core. You can say less, very directly, and usually get what you want, without offending anyone.
One anti-pattern I've seen is the "big fish in tiny bowl" syndrome where a certain person evolves over the years into an overpaid, arrogant asshole.
Here's how my wife does it... "Do you want to take out the trash?" My engineer mind interprets it literally every time :) Usually I don't mind taking out the trash... but occasionally I don't really want to. I have to always translate this to "She wants me to take out the trash".
Or. “It’s OK i’ll take out the trash”
Neuroticising over how to word your commands (polite requests) is slave mindset, and such a person who does this is not a 'leader'. What makes a leader is not how you word things. But almost nobody walking around in corporate america has an inspiringly authoritative personality, and you can't make yourself into one very easily, so retarded articles like this are the best they can do. If you are a leader, then when yo…
>If you are a leader, then when you simply say 'go do this', the follower actually wants to do it and does not care about how carefully you handle their feelings. Nope, communicating with humans is the same art whether you think you are a leader or not. Some cultures have a strong sense of hierarchy, which in their business interactions is expressed in the petty, demeaning game of "act like a sycophant insect to thos…
To be civilized is to bend to genteel sensibilities; and nothing inspiring ever comes from that. Logically sound, rational, and convincing sure; but never inspiring.