My thoughts are on breast cancer awareness this month. There are so many amazing women who are trying to win the battle over breast cancer. I think these women have a lot of wisdom to share with us. You can check out some of the women who share their story at the Susan G. Komen For the Cure blog and hear about their journeys.
Have you ever faced a challenge in business or life that you really couldn’t out maneuver? Though your efforts were valiant and you tried diligently to control the situation with all your skills and talents, you were simply out numbered, out maneuvered, or out matched.
We have to ask ourselves a question, “Can I control that person or thing or outcome? What can I control?” Once you know what you can control, then the next question is “Can I let go of the rest?”
Answering the second question is the hardest. I think that as we look at our difficult situations we always strive to be enough to overcome the situation. There always comes a time when we finally have to decide to let go of the things we can’t control and leave that up to others and have faith in their abilities and in the plan that God has for us.
We could ask cancer survivors what was a key to their success and it is likely that each one will say they were not alone in their fight. They had a whole team of supporters from family to doctors and nurses to friends and neighbors using their skills to help them get better. We can’t control everything but we can empower others who are on our side and on our team to use their skills and gifts to make the situation better.
So how does this apply to business?
Being micro managed is one of the worst experiences to endure in a work situation and is a stealth contributor to the turnover rate of a position. If a person cannot be allowed to own their sphere of influence and are constantly being told not to trust their skills and talents and be the manager’s human robot, then the worker will eventually withdraw and find another place that is a safer to apply their skills and talents and mind. Great managers know that it is not their job to control everything, but to teach and empower the people they manage and then let go and get out of the way so the person can use their own talents to help the team they are on.
An organization of human clones may get a lot of numbers crunched, but what happens when they are asked to solve complex problems and use their own judgement to find the answers. Businesses don’t need clones, but variety and ideas and viewpoints from each of their employees that are different and relevant. This is the strength of a business. This is its human capital. Nothing is more important than the people who breathe life into a business everyday.
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