Don't tell them what to do. Give them your intent
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." General George S. Patton
Giving instructions, directives, or telling people what needs to be done is one of the great challenges of leadership. All leaders, even seasoned military leaders struggle with it. Our tendency is to describe, in full, what needs to take place or how exactly to do what it is we want done. A leader may describe step by step how to complete a task or even micromanage its execution. This happens for several reasons.
Fear that the directive may not be carried out the exact way we envision
Lack of trust in the individual who will carry out the directive
A leader's lack of confidence in giving instructions
Blindness or ignorance of the true potential of people
In the military lives depended on instructions and often they could only be given once. Leaders lacked the ability to personally see their directives through so they focused their time instead on crafting their intent -- Purpose, Key Tasks, End State. Here is an example:
Purpose (why it needs to be done.)
“Mary I’d like you to reconstruct the landing page of our website because I want to attract more customers (Purpose)”
“Phil, can you study our accidents over the last year and report your findings?” “I am considering a new safety campaign (Purpose)”
Key Tasks (a few tasks which you believe are essential for completion of your directive. These tasks, if not done will increase risk of failure to meet your end state.)
“Mary some key tasks associated with this are ease of use (minimizing mouse clicks), a contemporary feel with colors and graphics, and search engine optimization (Key Tasks).”
“Phil, I’m looking for accidents which caused injury and employee absence. I’ll want you to show statistics such as employee experience level, time of day, location, and other statistics you believe are relevant to this study (Key Tasks)”
End State: (how it should look, feel, sound etc. when complete)
“Mary end state will be a presentation for the COO and I which highlights the changes and how you believe the improvements will attract more customers. We will offer some guidance to you then get the changes complete and make plans for launch."
“Phil, my end state is a study which helps me better see accident occurrences so I can make an informed plan for this year’s safety campaign. As you recall last year’s campaign was ineffective because I didn’t invest time studying the problems and their causes. Help me see that before I move forward this year.”
Don't rush to giving instructions. Focus your time on intent, frame your instructions in this manner and unleash the true potential of your people to meet your end state. I'm standing by to help you!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell