The Art of Receiving Help

“I not only use all the brains I have, but all can borrow” –Woodrow Wilson

How in the world can we get all our tasks done in organizational management that we think we can by the end of each day?

We are dreamers, thinkers, planners, organizers, councilors, motivators and risk takers. Yes, there are those in your organization that think you have a red “S” on your chest and can leap tall buildings.

Patrick Lindsay shared this thought on enlisting help. “It’s tempting to try to do everything yourself. But it’s dopey. Even Einstein called on other minds to expand his. When you think you have all the skills to complete the task, seek complementary skills and the fresh eyes of others. You’ll pay them respect and unleash potential.”

This thought process can/will not only benefit us, but our staff, our board members, our volunteers, but also those we serve in our community, or association.

This process is far beyond delegating, it is about expanding beyond our personal skill base to be open and receptive to not only asking others for their thoughts, experience and opinions, but listening to them with a very open mind.

Realizing that you might not hear what you expected, include what others suggest and consider those ideas with your own, and perhaps there lies the solution to an issue, or an answer to a question that has been lingering in your mind.

As leaders, others often look to us for the solutions and challenges of the organization or association, and that is our responsibility, but also our opportunity to ask and include others in the thought process.

In years past, as a Chamber CEO, I always invited the nay-sayer, the squeaky wheel, the whiner to committee and board meetings to hear and understand his/her point of view. The committee or board also heard the words I heard from those with an opposing view. We always went out of our way to make them welcome and that their contribution to the issue was one spoke of many that made the wheel of progress turn in a direction of the solution.

At times, this will slam you out of your comfort zone, and other times, you will slap your forehead and realize that a bit of additional feedback and information was part of the solution.

I had this quote in my office for over 20 years, and it was so apropos to this topic.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” -Aristotle

Will all the resources we all have to bolster our decision making skills today, often the most valuable is just one phone call away, or personal visit to a person in or out of your sphere of influence that could contribute that one idea that moves you closer to the conclusion or success of your challenge or issue.

Worth the risk, you decide.

To your continued success,
David