While keeping up on my friend and Dean of the School of Business at the University of Utah I've run across some interesting blog posts; both his and others on an aggregate blog called "connectblogs." One writer, Katie Reeder, caught my eye with this post so I thought I'd share it in its entirety given how short it is and how related it is with the recent "Teaming" ramblings.
Someone once said, "You should never tell Babe Ruth how to hold a bat."Truer words were never spoken and yet everyday, I work with managers, who have employees with a 1000 batting average, who insist on telling them how to hold a bat.
Process, policy and procedure are critical elements which allow us to consistently replicate desired outcomes. But once those are memorizialized, routinely reviewed and improved, the employees who work within them should be turned loose and allowed to fly.
Leaders who insist that employees should perform every task, approach every project, finalize every sale, exactly the way the manager would, is severely limiting the potential of the business and, more importantly, the employee. If you have an employee who comes to work eager to do their job everyday, who knows themselves well enough to work efficiently and effectively, give them the sign to swing away.
My best advice to managers and leaders - get out of the battersbox today, don’t start coaching until they approach first and give them the room and equipment to knock the ball out of the park, every single day. I promise you, they will.
So here's the sign to swing away...and if you want to know which bat has worked well for me in the past, just ask.
agreed Kris, agreed...
Posted by: Steve | November 03, 2009 at 11:12 PM
is this similar to the methodology of 'tell them not only to lick the stamp, but also how much spit to use'? That is the bat often employed with my build 'partners' and I wish I could use another method to let their energy flow correctly to a meaningful end. It is always the best when everyone who is on the same Team truly understands they are sharing the same Game.
Posted by: Kris | November 03, 2009 at 02:19 PM
And here I had hoped you were going to respond to the Senior Prom question in the Teaming posts.
To answer your question though, I've found no one bat fits all. And, lately, that more importantly, teammates, before choosing their bat, need to make sure they're playing the same game!
Posted by: Steve | March 28, 2009 at 05:30 PM
So...which bat was your favorite?
Posted by: Bobby | March 27, 2009 at 11:30 PM