PeopleSmart in Business eBook - The Platinum Rule

98
Five: On the Job
From bus excursions to daily seminars and discussion groups, Dan
arranged everyone’s itinerary. He thought his staff would eagerly embrace
his plans, but was extremely disappointed to overhear a few of
them complaining about his fi xed agenda:
“Who does he think he is? Giving us a supposed vacation and bouncing
us around in workshops and seminars, not to mention spending
every breathing minute with him!”
“Yes, I know what you mean. Just once, I wish he’d ask us what we
want instead of doing what he wants.”
“Here, here!”
Dan’s fi rst impulse was to rush in and tell those ingrates a thing or
three, but he held himself back and decided to call his wife Jean to tell
her what happened:
“I can understand their point, Dan. It sounds as though they just
want to be part of the decision-making process instead of your telling
them what to do,” Jean observed.
“Hmmm. I guess the way I did it could seem a bit autocratic.”
“I’m glad you see it that way, Dan,” said Jean.
“Maybe I’ll call an informal meeting so they can let me know just
what they want,” Dan decided.
So he did. Th e employees thanked him, but also told him they’d like
a few days just to be with their families without having to check in
with anyone but themselves.
“Is that all?” Dan asked. Th e group agreed. “Th is was a lot easier
than I thought it would be,” Dan observed.
Fortunately, Dan put himself in his employees’ shoes and became
willing to see their point of view—they wanted to help decide. For
Dan, it seemed much easier to make the decisions and then tell everybody
else to follow through. But what he wanted and what they
wanted didn’t necessarily match.