intuitive thought processes work better. You don't need to know why any
single piece of information is valuable; your brain will take care of that.
You just need to be as sure as possible that it has as much data as possible.
If you see it in this way, you will understand why these conversations are
so important. You don't have them because you want the person to believe
you care you have them because you will make better decisions if you do.
The fact that the person will believe you care what they think is a great
side benefit; that happens because you do care. When you patronized to make
them feel better, they saw through it, and they weren't satisfied. When
you communicate for yourself, so you will learn more and make better decisions,
they sense your sincerity and they are satisfied.
3) Sensitive to cues concerning potential problems and opportunities.
I call this "cue sensitivity" and it is one of the most important
skills for an effective leader to develop. While your brain will use these
subtle cues to provide you with intuitive knowledge about a situation that
needs your attention, it is possible to learn to become consciously aware
of them when they happen. When you become aware of these cues, you are then
able to respond to them appropriately. This early appropriate response will
very often eliminate any possibility that the situation will mature and
cause you real problems. The use of this skill is why effective leaders
tend to avoid "Murphy's Law" (Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong),
why they seem so lucky.
Let me give you an example. Let's say you meet someone in the hall and
they say, "Jim isn't looking happy, do you have any idea what's wrong?"
You respond, "Not really, but we've all been under a lot of pressure
lately."
"That's probably it."
As you walk away you think, "Maybe I should talk to Jim...just in
case." That's the last thought you have on the subject until three
months later when Jim resigns in anger, fed up with the lack of cooperation
he is getting from a critical, internal vendor.
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Now you're
thinking, "I knew I should have talked to him."
The problem is, it's too late; Jim's gone and the critical project he was
managing is in jeopardy... there's no doubt, anything that can go wrong, will.
It is cue sensitivity that enables you to head off a problem when
it is still manageable; without this skill you drift from one major
disaster to another, wondering why this is always happening to you...why you're
so unlucky. All it took was being sensitive to this cue, followed by a simple
conversation with Jim, "What's going on, everything okay?" If
you're open to his issues, listen carefully and are curious enough to dig
out the real problem, there's a great chance that you'll be able to solve
the problem, heading off the disaster waiting around the corner.
In addition to helping you head off problems, cue sensitivity can also
help you take advantage of surprise developments. This is the difference
between being aware of what's happening and ignoring those developments
that don't fit your paradigm. The history of science is full of instances
where one individual looked at what was happening, noticed it and wondered
why. My favorite example is the physicist, Richard Feynman, who was watching
a magician twirl plates on the end of stick and wondered about the unusual
wave pattern the edge of the plate was exhibiting...this moment of cue sensitivity,
coupled with a strong curiosity lead him to the Nobel prize and a reputation
as one of the finest modern physicists.
Again, your brain will analyze this data regardless, and then it will
feed you the information as an intuitive thought that you can either act
on or ignore. But, you can learn to be sensitive to these cues, to become
cue sensitive. When you do, you are on your way to becoming a truly effective
leader.
4) Willing to embrace the unexpected and the resulting possibilities.
Why are we so afraid of the unexpected, so worried about being surprised?
This fear really has no place in life, because life is full of surprises
and you ignore that fact at your detriment. Surprises are just as often
positive as they are negative, just as often lead to better results, as
they are obstacles to progress. In fact, very often the surprises that |