Getting to 'yes'
"Responsibility finds a way. Irresponsibility makes excuses!" Gene Bedley
I run a business separate from my leadership business where we operate under the philosophy of, "getting our customers to yes." This means that if we do not sell what they are looking for or provide the service they need, we will find out who does and will go so far as to make the connection for them. It is a differentiator or a competitive advantage because we find it lacking today. Of course we won't entertain something wildly off the mark. We will politely decline, but we find those instances to be rare. Usually there is a solution and our customers deeply appreciate us going the extra mile for them. Leaders appreciate it too.
I heard several of my bosses use this phrase, "get me to yes." They used it a lot with Army lawyers. Their intent was, within the law, find a way to get approval to do this. I used the phrase as well, when it was my turn to lead. Of course it was sometimes shaky ground as we would alter language and purpose to get what we wanted within the law. There were some who crossed the line of ethics and morality but mostly, when we were asking a lawyer to get us to yes, we were attempting to do something morally and ethically sound, for the common good.
The 'getting to yes' concept makes a person or a team work harder to problem-solve - to find a solution where we as leaders know one exists. I use it today for that purpose - to challenge my people and teams to dig harder to find a solution instead of defaulting to, "we can't do it," or "we don't have that." I have to preface it by ensuring my people know I would never ask them to do anything immoral or unethical. Once that foundation is set and guidance clear, I can push them to develop creative solutions to difficult problems - to get me (or our customers) to yes.
If they must bring me a no, I'm more confident they have done the work to find a yes where one does not exist. It is rarely the case though. A yes may just be too costly in terms of money and or labor but the point is to do the hard work - take the responsibility to find it before you throw in the towel.
If you want your people and teams to operate under this philosophy, you have to state this often. "Let's get them to a yes on this." or "Get me to a yes here." Give it a try!
Know a leader in need of coaching or a company who needs leadership help? Make the connection today and I'll do my stuff!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell