Making the case for the Yes Man/Woman
A player who makes a team great is better than a great player. - John Wooden
“I’ll see what I can do about looking into that for you,” said a young staff officer to me one late Friday afternoon in the 82nd Airborne Division after I reviewed his task list. I was the executive officer for a 700-person parachute infantry battalion, one of the most demanding jobs I held in the Army. Exhausted after a relentless week, I stopped him. “Say that again, better yet write it out on my dry-erase board.” This one was a keeper! I responded, “That’s as close as anyone has come to saying ‘no’ without actually saying it.” Keeping my composure, and feeling empathy for an equally exhausted paratrooper, I advised him to narrow down that sentence to one word. Yes.
The Yes Man/Woman approach gets a bad rap. It is seen as blind obedience or it describes a spineless person who lacks the fortitude to stand up to the boss.
I’m a Yes Man and it has served me well as a leader and a businessman. ‘No’ is only required after anything illegal, immoral, or extremely dangerous which is rarely ever the case. Here is my Yes philosophy.
I exist to solve my boss’s and the organization's problems.
My loyalty is not to my job description (JD), rather, to help the team and its people solve problems and advance.
An immediate ‘no’ freezes the request long before any analysis. A yes allows me or my team time to examine what is being asked, then return, soon after to share our analysis with the boss and seek approval to alter the task toward something more feasible.
Most of the time, what we are being asked to do, even if it is well outside of our JD is what the organization needs. I’ve addressed this before as part of my “Things we should never say to our boss,” blog. When we say no, we place the problem back on the lap of our boss or pass the burden onto someone else.
Asked to assist sales by cold calling when it is not written in your JD? Yes
Asked to help clean up the storage room with the rest of the team when you never go in there? Yes
Asked to pick up a new employee on a weekend outside of your normal work hours? Yes
Asked to conduct some analysis behind a sales slump when you already have a full plate? Yes
I was exhausted on that Friday afternoon in the 82nd Airborne because of my Yes Man approach. But our organization was a leading organization in our division in many categories. And its people enjoyed (and still do) a career full of promotions and rewarding assignments. Give me a Yes Man/Woman!
This is a tough subject, one which needs coaching. Yes, I can help you or a leader in need apply the Yes Man/Woman approach while caring for their people. Message or refer me today!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell