Well, it changed mine...perhaps not how you'd expect. One of my favorite activities is having round tables with the front line employees in my organization. I don't get to do it nearly as often as I'd like, but it is incredibly valuable.
In one such exercise, I was sitting with around 12 folks discussing compensation issues, and the possibility of changes to comp plans. This particular group was composed of salespeople, darn good ones too, by and large. If there is anything near and dear to the hearts of commissioned sellers...it's their comp.
Appreciating that fact, I had put a lot of thought (I thought!) into an approach that focused on the big picture. One change that had been considered (but discounted) was a change that would have raised base comp by a mere $40 a month. Being the enlightened big thinker I thought I was, I made an offhanded remark about how that kind of change isn't what these folks would be interested in. Well, so softly she thought I didn't hear, one of my folks said under her breath to nobody in particular...."That would pay my cable bill."
Thunder struck, universe changed.
A trap that is so easy to fall into as a leader is thinking that you know what your people need without asking them...even when you sincerely have their best interests at heart. Are you setting up structures that let you hear their voices...even when they are talking to themselves?
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