Monday, June 2, 2014

Information

Imagine you are driving with your team in a bus. There you are travelling for hours and every now and then pops the question, ‘have we reached?’ It seems strange but is common occurrence. All are in the same bus, travelling the same road, going to the same destination? Yet the query, ‘Have we reached?’
When we hold information close to the heart, we end up carrying the enormous load all by ourselves. But if we share that information, then everyone can put in their little bit towards achieving it. In fact it is pertinent to move beyond just sharing the information. We must ensure that those in our team with whom we share the information with, also share the same convictions and have the same purposes.
There is nothing more powerful than an entire team pulling in the same direction, dreaming the same dreams and striving towards the same goals. Great leaders unite, among their team members, what can be termed a information package that combines vision, conviction and mission in terms of action plan. They use persuasive skills to sell the package. Some team members need to be inspired or some might simply need more information.
The leader has access to more information than the rest and this must be shared prudently. Throwing all available data at everyone is not helpful. The leader must filter the information before passing it on. Timing the sharing is also important. The team might not need to know all the details in one go. This might confuse their priorities and make some people collapse as they see the hurdles, real and imagined, looming before them.
How to share information is also vital. Sometimes, it is better to talk upfront. Other times, it is better not to talk face-to-face. Whichever way, sharing the information is an important task. More important is to ensure that the sharing also results in a buy-in by the team members. It is hard to move the carriage forward if all the horses are pulling in different directions.
Share vision, conviction and path of mission...
 ‘Unite to impact’ teams with information!
                              
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Goa, India.

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