Let me tell you a story.
A gentleman returned home after a lengthy trip, and was met by his servant at the station. They had the following conversation on their way home:
GENTLEMAN: “So, has anything happened while I’ve been away?”
SERVANT: “None, Sir. I can’t think of anything at all worth mentioning.”
GENTLEMAN: “Come now, I’ve been away for weeks. Surely, something must have happened in all that time.”
SERVANT: “Well, Sir, come to think of it, your dog died.”
GENTLEMAN: “My dog died? How awful! Still, he was getting on in the years. I suppose it had to happen sometime… How did he die?”
SERVANT: “The vet said it was probably from eating rotten meat.”
GENTLEMAN: “Rotten meat?! Since when did we start leaving rotten meat lying around for the dog to eat?”
SERVANT: “Well, it was the horses, Sir. They’d been rotting for some time after the barn burned down.”
GENTLEMAN: “Good heavens! How in the world did the barn burn down?”
SERVANT: “It must have been some embers that blew over from the house, Sir.”
GENTLEMAN: “The house? The house burned down too??? But how did the house got burned down?”
SERVANT: “Well, Sir, we think someone must have knocked over a candle.”
GENTLEMAN: “What?! Wait a moment, we don’t use candles anymore to light the house! What were the candles doing there???”
SERVANT: “They were there for the wake, Sir.”
GENTLEMAN: “The wake??? Whose wake?”
SERVANT: “Your mother’s, Sir. She passed away quite suddenly.”
GENTLEMAN: “Oh my Lord! Mother is dead! And the house is gone, along with the stable! Even my poor dog’s dead too! What did Mother die of?”
SERVANT: “It must have been the shock, Sir.”
GENTLEMAN: “The shock?”
SERVANT: “Yes, Sir. The shock when your wife ran off with the handyman the day after you left, Sir. But except for those, it’s been fairly quiet while you’ve been away, Sir…”
I would have fired that servant. Wouldn’t you? Some of you would have liked to kill him, but that’s not very nice! So let’s keep it at firing him, shall we?
Let’s apply this to business now.
“Give me wrong information, and I will make a wrong decision,” I constantly tell my people. When uncertain about the answer to my question, I would rather a person say, “Sir, I am not sure about this, but I will get back to you the moment I have clear answers.” This reply is way better than giving some imaginary answer on the spot, just to save one’s self from looking unprepared, but ending up causing me (or the one asking for the information) to make a faulty decision.
Sometimes, we can actually sense if the person is not prepared to give an answer or is unsure about the answer. The body language, the gestures, the eyes of the person could usually give him or her away. If you watch the cable TV series “Lie To Me”, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
When I sense that a person is unsure about the answer, I would ask, “Do you need some time to think about it? Don’t rush. Just find out the facts of the matter before you give me a reply.” This is wiser. It saves me from a lot of potential problems.
Giving incomplete information is tantamount to giving wrong information. Everyone in the organization should be trained to give complete and accurate answers, because the decisions leaders make upon these answers affect the whole organization.
On the other hand, leaders should also be trained to ask the right questions!
Right questions are powerful! Think about how Jesus answered questions – by asking more questions. Asking questions is both art and science.
Question: Is it really safe for your people to admit that they do not have the complete answer at the given moment, or do you, as a leader, suddenly snap judgments at them about their incompetency when this happens?
I guess the pressure of getting complete answers is on the leadership as well.
(Spend two whole days with Francis Kong developing your leadership skills this Nov. 24-25 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)