I am not sure who said “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people”, but it tends to play out well in the federal government sector. What we talk about with our colleagues and who we talk to plays a significant role in moving our careers forward. As we manage a litany of projects and events, communication with staff, stakeholders and super ordinates is key to successful endeavors.
As a retired federal government executive and a current federal government contractor, I fully endorse talking to all those involved in your projects and events to gather “diversity of thoughts” within and outside of your organization. Walter Lippman believes “Where all people think alike, no one thinks very much”. It was so beneficial to me to talk to other federal officials to see what new projects they were working on, what problems they encountered and how they solved the problem. People can be very territorial, so I thought they may not be responsive to my questions. I was wrong. Most people love talking about their work.
Of course, I had to establish a relationship with the person initially. I had to find that connection, be it college, kids, church, hobbies, sports teams or mutual friends. One of the most strategic and successful relationships I established was with a gentleman in another office who was a Senior Executive “Deputy”. We both were Deputies and had the same level of responsibilities, simply different content areas. His leadership style was very different than mine. He focused on high performance with the technical aspect of the job and not on his people. I focused more on soft leadership skills to gain the support of the staff. He and I both faced finicky staff, tough deadlines and limited resources. We both were facing a compendium of personalities.
We both quickly recognized that he needed to use a few of my techniques to influence people and I needed a little of his toughness to stay on schedule with project deliverables. We learned a lot from each other and I confess that it was not coincidental. He had something I wanted, “toughness”. Maybe not as much toughness as he had. I wanted my “steel fist to be encased in a velvet glove”.
It is a matter of balancing the technical skills and project requirements with “soft” leadership skills. If staff had family members suffering with illness I would ask how the individual was doing, acknowledge graduations and weddings, showing interest in the staff. My staff really appreciated it and said things to me like, “you are such a regular person, so approachable”. I took that as a real compliment.
Taking a walk around the building, introducing myself to folks in other divisions and offices worked really well. This approach cut down on trial and error episodes. Conferring with my colleague gave me evidence- based strategies. I learned quickly that regardless of the content or subject a leader is required to be proficient in his or her area of responsibility and to know the staff well enough to establish a relationship of trust. When staff knows you are concerned about how life is treating them, they will be concerned about your life challenges. The challenges can be professional or personal. Fostering good working relations can improve morale, increase participation of team members and create a pro-active environment.
Word to the wise, set some time aside on your calendar to actually walk around the building and meet others of “like minds”. You might learn some new ways to accomplish your goals.
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