The best leaders always tend to make the best decisions in most cases. To be able to make the best decisions, you must have in your “toolkit” the ability to build consensus around a goal or issue and then properly communicate the actions to be taken, by who and by when.Some of you approach decision making, consensus building and communication like a speeding freight train. How’s that working out for you? Make no mistake, there are those times when a direct approach is necessary. But it should not be the “norm”.One of the most important lessons I write about in my new book – “The Go-To Person’s Guide to Success” – is that making the decision is actually the easy part. Getting everyone with different views to buy-in and comply is the real test of a leader. And that’s where consensus building and communication factor into the process.Related: 3 Ways to Build Mental Toughness Related: Why You Need to Develop Go-To People From my experiences, I developed a 7-step process for communication that leads to consensus building within my team. If you follow it as designed, communication within your company will improve, as will the results you achieve.
Take the time to create a plan as to how you will communicate your decision. Start with the desired outcome and work backward. In this way, you are more likely to consider all of the pertinent facts. Never “wing it” when it comes to communicating a decision you have made. Your plan must include a complete list of everyone to whom you must communicate your decision: those who will be responsible for implementing it, as well as those who will be affected by it. This step will help you avoid multiple meetings with different audiences. The more meetings you have in front of different audiences, the more likely different versions will be heard, which creates confusion and false starts. Prior to a broad announcement, it may be necessary to meet one-on-one with those who will be impacted the most by the decision or those who had supported a different solution. A private discussion is an opportunity to explain the “why” behind the decision. It allows the other person to vent privately and it gives you a chance to solicit their buy-in.To learn the balance of this 7-step process, invest in yourself and buy the book.
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