Organizational Growth

4 Reasons Your Team Thinks You’re Not Listening

If you’re going to lead a team, you must listen. No excuses. No exceptions.

Some managers naturally focus on tasks and projects. Yet, the best leaders focus on the needs of the people they serve. Always.

Although some team members may be subordinates, they are also partners. And they need to know – without a doubt – that they have absolute freedom to contribute their unique perspective to the organization. Even when it differs from yours.

And their perspective will be different than yours – regularly. So if you are going to influence people, you must slow down and listen – long enough to understand and consider their perspective.

If you are going to lead, you must listen.

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Most employees think their boss is deaf to their recommendations, their observations, and their pleas for more resources. And few managers realize that their team feels this way.

Here are 4 reasons team members think their manager isn’t listening…

4 Ways to Respond When Your Team Thinks You’re Crazy!

I am task-oriented. It’s easy for me to identify a project that needs to be done and to focus on getting it accomplished.

And I’ve learned that there are times that my “driven” nature frustrates and intimidates other people.

A couple of years ago, I sensed a rising level of frustration within our organization. So I sat down with several of team members and asked them to help me understand how my actions were being perceived.

While I expected some of the responses – others surprised me. Some hurt deeply. Not because the team members were being unkind – I simply had a hard time believing what I was hearing. They said things like…

The NEW Personal Life Plan Guide

Every person should have a SIMPLE Personal Life Plan that is reviewed and updated regularly.

I wrote a personal life plan in 2004. Shortly after I wrote my life plan, I began working with an Executive Coach. These two changes (a new personal plan and an executive coach) significantly impacted my life and work. Within a few months, I sat down and noted 3 Reasons Why Everyone Should Have a Personal Plan.

Here they are – with a personal plan, you can…

The SIMPLE One-Page Business Plan

Most business planning approaches have one similar flaw – they’re far too complicated! The majority of organizations and leaders don’t need a 100-page business plan that sits on a remote shelf in a corner office somewhere collecting dust never again to see the light of day.

What they do need is a ridiculously simple, clear business plan that outlines:

What you will do and what you will become.
How you will reach your goals.
Where you need to make improvements.

If you have not written (and are not regularly reviewing) a simple business plan, you will continue to struggle with clarity, results, and profit.

I recently wrote an article, The ONE Reason Everyone Needs a SIMPLE Business Plan. Take a second to click over to review it because it will add value to this article.

For years, I struggled to make the progress that I knew was possible in my work and with my team. I knew I had to do something. So I developed a Simple, One-Page Business Plan Template.

The template really is simple – which is what allowed me to make significant progress and gain momentum. The template has 4 short sections – End, Action, Change, Review.

Today, I am going to give you a copy of my business plan guide and template. More about that in a moment.

The ONE Reason Everyone Should Create a SIMPLE Business Plan

When YOU think of business planning, what comes to mind? Scary? Boring? Valuable? Too much trouble? Worthless? Priceless?

There are literally hundreds of business plan guides, software programs, and websites, and thousands of business planning consultants. Many business planning approaches have one similar flaw – they’re far too complicated – even for business leaders.

Many of them would take us days, weeks, months, even years to complete. And then they’d sit on a remote shelf in a corner office somewhere collecting dust never again to see the light of day.

That’s NOT the kind of business plan I’m talking about. The best ideas – the best businesses – begin as SIMPLE ideas that are pursued with fanatic clarity.