Give me a little credit. I've waited almost two weeks to write about the government shutdown.
Regardless of your point of view, hopefully you'll agree that one of the more egregious statements came from Representative Marlin Stutzman, "We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't even know what that is."
Representative Stutzman's statement quickly, and justifiably, became a punchline. While honoring the humor therein, I believe there are also a few lessons that we can learn.
Know, and state with confidence, where you are leading your team. The most disturbing part of Stutzman's statement was the last sentence, "And I don't even know what that is." People won't, and shouldn't, follow you if you can't define your goal. Wandering about aimlessly in the wilderness didn't even work for Biblical characters. . .much less your group. Or, put another way, don't fire off arrows if you don't even have a target.
When you want a team to achieve a goal, do this. Be certain. Be specific. Be constant and consistent.
Stay on message. What I suspect happened with Rep. Stutzman is that the battle was prolonged, frustrating. . and in his reaction, he allowed himself to get off message. Don't do this. In business, in organizations, there will be many times that you are "in the heat of the moment." Think about your message, and the direction you want to set, prior to reacting.
Don't believe you are "owed something" just because you engaged. Stutzman's statement, "We have to get something out of this," reflects an aura of entitlement (something I suspect the representative is not a big fan of). As much as I believe in compromise, I also believe it isn't, nor should be, a guaranteed outcome. When you take one side of an argument you don't necessarily get something for stating your opinion. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose - move on. Don't dwell on the loss - people don't want to follow people who wallow.
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Keywords: leadership, goals, goal attainment, communication of goals, negotiations, compromise.
Brent Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" available for e-readers and PCs on Amazon Kindle. If you are a member of Amazon Prime, you can now read this book for free.
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