The importance of a sounding board.
As an owner, manager or leader (OML) it is very important to have a trusted person who you can bounce ideas off of. This person might be a peer, a partner, a team member or possibly a consultant. Getting a third party perspective can uncover ideas that can level up both your leadership and your team’s performance.
People communicate in different ways but often the most effective way to generate ideas and work through novel situations is through open dialogue. Talk problems or ideas through with that trusted partner. When an OML finds their sounding board it will often be someone from a different background and with different experience. This makes it more likely they will see things that you may be missing and come at the topic from a very different angle. It would benefit most OML’s to search for someone who may have worked in similar industries but in different roles or to find someone whose expertise is complementary.
I have often joked with friends and colleagues that I “think with my mouth.” The best ideas and plans spring from conversations with people who have experience in the area we are working. This past week I had the opportunity to do just that with several great folks. Each came to our conversation with good intentions and a desire to bring success to the project at hand. Each was looking at the problem from their own angle and it was up to me to synthesize their feedback and build out a solution that worked for all parties. It is still a work in progress but we found a new path forward that was unexpected and which looks like it will be a win-win-win. A win for the client, a win for my team and a big win for the end customers. The path would not have presented itself without input from key players on three different teams all working together.
Are you a leader looking for a trusted partner to help you level up your team’s performance or to tackle a thorny problem? Find a trusted person on your team. Don’t have a team yet and looking to build it, call me, I can be your sounding board. Check out the services that DSMC can provide you on our website or schedule a 30 minute introductory call to see what we can do for you.
Thank you for reading, I look forward to supporting you in any way I can. Drop me a note on LinkedIn, at my email address stratton@downeaststratmc.com or forward my intro blog to a friend. It provides tips and explores management principles.
