Whether you voted for Trump or Hillary, woke up with an impending sense of dread or feeling like you just watched your team pull the upset win, there is at least one reason for hope… and one thing you can take into your own organization.
Great business people have a few things in common, but perhaps the most important is their ability to surround themselves with great people – and to rely on them. They are uniters – able to marshal people and resources around a common vision to accomplish extraordinary goals.
How much do you rely on the people around you? Do you empower them? Do you value those who are willing to question and challenge? Companies that fail often do so wearing rose-colored glasses, glossing over mistakes and communicating pure optimism. A team of yes-men isn’t a team at all, and worse will leave you blind to risks.
Successful leaders want their assumptions challenged, their logic probed, their flaws noted. Surrounding yourself with smart people who are willing to disagree with you is perhaps your greatest asset as a leader. There is, of course, more to it than a room full of people prone to argument. A shared vision, commitment and investment in organizational success, and genuine caring about both the people and the organization are critical for ‘radical candor’, as author Kim Scott terms it, to be successful.
Does Trump have what it takes? Only time will tell, but given his success in business, there is at least one reason for hope…