To get things done as an executive requires understanding what others want.
People think that once they have the title of director or VP, everybody else will just listen to them and do what they say. That is rarely true.
Imagine if you started working under a director who told you to “Do what I say!” without giving any explanation. They wouldn’t have much credibility, especially if they threatened you with bad performance reviews or firing if you asked questions or doubted them.
Effective executives figure out how to align what they want with what their teams want. “Here’s what we’re all excited to build together, and this is the piece of it that you’re the perfect person to build” is much more motivating than “Do what I say”.
But to do that requires understanding what everybody wants and what motivates them.
— Do they want to get promoted?
— Do they want more scope and visibility?
— Do they want to work on the coolest technology?
— Do they just want to be left alone?
Until you understand what they care about, you won’t be effective in motivating them to do what you care about.
The same applies to cross-functional peers and to your leadership team. What do they care about?
Telling your sales counterpart about the cool technology is not going to get them to help you (trust me, I tried it back when I was an engineer). Instead, you might tell them how your new feature will help them beat their quota.
For your leadership team, they’re going to care about increasing revenue, decreasing costs, and thereby increasing profits. That’s what the board will be asking about, so you have to explain how your initiatives will help them do that.
When you understand what other people want, you will be far more effective at getting your team to do what you want, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and getting the resources you need from your leadership team. You will be playing a win-win game where everybody benefits, rather than a zero-sum game where they have to lose for you to win.
I share more insights like this in my Maven class on how to be a more effective executive, which starts next week. I’ll include the link in the comments for you to learn more and sign up.
Ask me any questions or share your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. The image was my attempt to get ChatGPT to create an image showing how we each see the world through our own filters – I still haven’t figured out how to get ChatGPT to do what I want 🙂