Last week we talked through the common pitfall aka the momentum killer called self-blame. If you didn’t listen in, go check it out and get the workbook to help you avoid self-blame going forward.
Today, let’s dive into the concept of facts vs. people.
When you were a professional, a manager, a director, a team leader, etc. you spent your time focused on what?
Facts.
It was your job to be the subject matter expert in yourk field or area of business and your knowledge was your most valuable asset.
You had to know the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and the facts as it relates to your area of responsibility. The reason is that your job was to fix any problem that arose.
As a manager or team leader, you had to keep the machine running. To do that, knowledge of the process and possible problems were the keys to your success.
As a new executive, the knowledge that you bring with you is important, but in this phase of your career, relationships trump knowledge.
Yes, it sounds crazy, but it’s true.
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
Your job as an executive is to use the sound judgment you created within yourself over the past 10 years and influence others to move the business forward.
Think about it this way.
As an executive, you have a team of people who are subject matter experts, learning the processes, keeping an eye out for problems, fixing issues as they arise, and they are keeping the machine functioning.
You don’t need to worry about that anymore to the degree you used to. Now you need to let those individuals do their jobs while you take your skills and knowledge and use those assets to influence others to grow the business.
It’s really that simple.
The pitfall in all of this is that because you spent 10-plus years learning facts, you think you must learn all of the facts before you’re a successful executive. Don’t get me wrong, knowing facts are important. But spending 6 months to a year to learn all the facts before you develop relationships and use them to move the business forward is detrimental to your career.
Do not let facts trump people. You are dealing in the world of relationships as an executive, not fixing and repairing the functionality of the business.
Do not confuse your old job with your new job. Prioritizing your personal need to learn the facts over the business need of building and using relationships is a pitfall that must be avoided.
Get the workbook to answer key questions about this topic, schedule a call with the team to learn more, and focus on people, not facts.
Be Legendary!