Geoff Wasserman

Pay Now or Pay More Later

Posted by Geoff Wasserman in CEOs & Leaders

It’s so common, unfortunately, for leaders to be vague and unwilling to be direct, specific and intentional with their questions on the front end of an action step, and it usually leads to significantly more pain on the back end.

Here’s what I mean: When you ask someone to take action on something, consider your discomfort with being clear and concise, and the consequences of it. It’s so easy to fall into the trap, and then be upset with everyone else later, except for the person who created the frustration in the first place. Here’s a few ways to avoid paying the price later:

1) Replace “Hey, can you look this over, tell me what you think when you get a chance,” with “I’d love your input on this. I will be finalizing it by Thursday. Is it realistic to expect you to review it and share any changes or insights with me, via email, by Wednesday at noon? Great. Can I hold you accountable to that?”

2) Replace “If you have any ideas on this, let me know…call me, shoot me an email, write them down and let’s discuss sometime,” with “I’d love to get your input. Give me a day & time you can carve out 20 minutes to share your findings with me; pick a date that allows you enough time to breathe, research, think through it, and give me your best.”

3) Replace “Can you handle this for me,” by “When can I expect this from you, and before you commit to accomplishing it, can you glance over the assignment and push back on me by sharing any stumbling blocks/obstacles you see now, before you commit to accomplishing it?”

4) Replace “No, this isn’t what I asked for” on the back end by clarifying on the front end: “What actionable step are you planning on taking to accomplish this? let’s talk through them, so I can help with resources, ideas or people to help you.”

5) Replace “Can everyone look over this, and see what you think,” with assigning it specifically to the person most gifted and resourced to pull it off. Let him/her champion hitting the deadline, exceeding your expectations, and make it clear that your role along the way, as leader, to help them accomplish the task is timely barrier removal.

There’s a cost to doing something, and usually a much bigger cost in choosing to do nothing. Being vague, unintentional, or not choosing to establish a deadline and a champion up front is, in essence, a choice…and a much more costly choice.

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Tags: accountability, ceo, Leadership, marketing, pastors, pay now, Upstate business