Johnny can’t sleep. He’s got a problem. He knows that if he doesn’t do anything, then he’ll lose everything. And so Johnny went to his friend, and his friend advised him to see a doctor.
Now this doctor isn’t cheap. Trained in New York, and you should see his list of patients, they all live in our plush subdivisions. He charges by the hour. But Johnny has no choice. And so, Johnny went to see this doctor.
“Doc,” he said, “I’ve got trouble. Every time I get into bed, I think there’s somebody under it. I get under the bed, and I think there’s somebody on top of it. Top, under, top, under... you gotta help me, I’m going crazy!”
“Just put yourself in my hands for two years,” said the shrink. “Come to me three times a week, and I’ll cure your fears.”
“How much do you charge?”
“P4,000 per visit.”
“I’ll sleep on it,” said Johnny.
But you see, that was precisely his problem, he could not sleep. And the doctor knows that. Six months later, the doctor met Johnny on the street. “Why didn’t you ever come to see me again?” asked the doctor.
“For P4,000 a visit? I can’t afford that. And besides, when I told our company janitor about my problem, he cured me for P100.
“Is that so! How?” asked the doctor.
“I told our company janitor about my fears. That every time I want to go to sleep, my mind begins to play tricks on me. I would imagine there is someone under the bed. And every time I go under the bed, I would imagine there is someone on top of the bed, and I also told him that you would cure me in two years for P4,000 per session.”
He just asked me for P100, and he cured me.
He told me to cut the legs off the bed, and that did it!”
In my years of doing business, I have had encounters wherein my top managers would come up with fanciful ideas on how to solve a situation and they would be costly. When you listened to their presentation it all seemed to make sense. And then I would have my sales staff, my front liners dispatched to do their work in the selling area come up to me with ideas and solutions that are not only inexpensive but downright practical.
Ideas are now the currencies for the future. Young people should no longer be dismissed because of their “lack” of experience. In many cases the young millennials are so well informed and well read such that they can provide ideas that can help solve a business problem or perhaps suggest ideas that can propel growth for the business. They should be given a voice and their ideas should be heard.
Sometimes we become so dependent on experts we forget to be practical. I do not discount the fact that experts are needed. If we have a heart problem or a disease, we cannot just consult a sensible and practical person who is without expertise in the medical field. But we need to make sure they have the knowledge and are trained in their areas of competence.
On the other hand, we need to watch out for “pseudo experts,” “fake gurus” who are good in speaking and projecting an area of expertise and competence that they themselves have never gone through. When you listen to them, they project an air of confidence but to the knowledgeable they present ideas that are at best, copied from experts or at worst a concoction of their imagination building credence solely on their online popularity and following. And when deeper and careful thinking is applied to their ideas; many of it does not even make sense.
Good leaders are good listeners. Provide an opportunity for your people to communicate their ideas. When their ideas are accepted and implemented, then reward them for their efforts and acknowledge their contribution. Never for a moment, think, “But this is what they’re paid to do!” No! Of course not! This is discretionary effort they are providing so they should be rewarded. Make sure that you have a sound and secure system to recognize the person or persons that contributed and do not allow some egocentric managers to grab the credit out from them.
We are all experts but only in different subject matters. Good leaders always consider others better than themselves, and this is why they continue to learn and listen.
Excellent and effective ideas do not need to be so fanciful and complicated, they need to be sensible and practical.
(Sign up for two exciting and inspiring days of leadership training with Francis Kong. Attend his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership seminar-workshop on July 17-18 at Seda Hotel, BGC. For registration or inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)