As The Boss, you wield a lot of power and influence. So much so that you probably don’t know you’ve caused a huge mess by simply thinking out loud. I remember back in the Navy, all it took for the command to completely go bonkers over something was for the Commanding Officer to make some sort of innocent comment.
Commanding Officer: “Hmmm, I hear folks down at the Bangor Clinic are pretty nervous about the upcoming IG inspection.”
My clinic director: “Petty Officer Munro, find out who’s been complaining to HQ about the upcoming IG inspection. I need this place cleaned up because the CO is coming down here to inspect.”
Innocent comment misconstrued as a directive. That was common back then, but Bosses today, if they’re not careful, can cause the same stress.
But it gets worse when a Boss makes a fast decision without communicating about it. As The Boss, what you do and say has a ripple effect. If you’re not paying attention to it, you’ll find that your snap judgement just caused a delayed tidal wave of trouble. People react and their reaction causes others to react. Before anyone knows it, chaos ensues and The Boss can’t figure out why!
It’s like what happens when you’re towing a trailer and jerk the steering wheel. The short steering wheel turn sends the trailer fishtailing wide. You’ve seen this close up when a semi-truck is overturned on the side of the interstate.
If you’re The Boss, think about what you say, do, and decide. Your words and actions have massive effects. Most of the time, resulting in actions you never intended to have.
You’ll be better off. Your people will be better off.
And… you’ll get a lot more respect from your team.
Final advice: Just don’t do something, STAND THERE!
And… Don’t jerk the wheel.
