4 Magic Words

Four words that get your team thinking for themselves

A quick thought for Friday, courtesy of my old business partner.

People would come to him throughout the day with problems, questions and decisions they wanted him to make. His reply was nearly always the same:

“What do you think?”

He was brilliant at it. You soon learnt to give the problem some proper thought before approaching him, because you knew he’d want to hear your answer first.

He was happy to help. But he gave people the chance to use their own judgement before offering his.

It’s easy to do the opposite. Someone asks, you answer, everyone gets on with their day. Keep doing it, though, and you can become the person everyone depends on for every little decision.

So give those four words a try today. Listen to the answer. Help them work it through.

You might find your team has more answers than you’ve been giving them room to share.

Have a great Friday and a lovely weekend.