leadership, effective
leadership, leaderships styles,
Open Door Policy? Open Mind Policy? By Mike
Moore
I was giving
a presentation on “ the Value of Recognition” to the office workers of
a large Canadian City. The City Commissioner ended his welcome to
those present with these words, “ I have an open door policy so I want
to encourage you to come and talk to me when you have a concern.” When
he left I heard a couple of people in the front row say with a hint of
sarcasm,
“ Yeah
sure. He has an open door policy as long as what you have to say is
flattering and doesn’t rock the boat.”
We all have
known leaders like this and we all have had similar reactions to
them. It is quite apparent that many managers and supervisors
don’t listen well and are easily threatened when a challenge or
criticism is made by someone over whom they have authority.
I recall having a supervisor ask me to schedule an appointment to see
him. He wanted to tap my brain. I should have been
suspicious right from the start because in over 20 years he had never
once asked my opinion on anything. In spite of this I
prepared thoroughly and was eager to finally have the chance to share
my wisdom and experience. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf.
When the interview began the supervisor fell asleep within
minutes. Is that all the time it took to “Tap my
mind?” Since I pride myself on being a rather dynamic and
energetic speaker I was really taken aback by this. What a
blow!! It was a relief to find out later that he suffered from
sleeping sickness and had a difficult time staying awake at the best of
times. I dismissed myself from the meeting saying that perhaps I
could return when he was feeling better. ( I won’t tell you what I
really wanted to say.)
Along with
proclaiming to have an open door policy I think we would all benefit
from people in leadership positions declaring that they had an
open mind policy as well. Managers with an open mind listen
attentively to the thoughts, ideas and opinions of others without
becoming upset or threatened when a contrary or critical position or
opinion is presented.
No one person, no matter what their position or level of expertise, has
a monopoly on wisdom, insight or correct thinking. Wisdom resides
in the collective and not in any one individual. The following
story illustrates what I mean by this.
It seems that a rather prestigious country club was having a problem
with disappearing bottles of shampoo in the mens’ shower room. No
matter what the management did the bottles kept
disappearing. Signs were posted and meetings were held
encouraging the members to leave the shampoo bottles where they found
them. Nothing worked.
One day the manager of the club was inspecting the shower room while a
custodian was mopping the floor. When the manager saw that
another shampoo bottle had disappeared he expressed his anger and
frustration to the custodian, “ We’ve tried everything.
Nothing works. What more can we
do?” The custodian stopped mopping, looked up at the manager and
said, “ Why don’t you take the top off each new bottle of shampoo and
throw it away? Nobody will take a shampoo bottle without a
top.” When the manager asked him why he hadn’t offered this
great solution before, the caretaker replied, “ Nobody ever asks my
opinion. Nobody gets my opinion.”
This is the sad reality in far too many businesses and
organizations. If you want a happy, healthy and more
productive workplace access the wisdom and experience of the group.
Cultivate a genuine “Open Door Policy” and combine it with a genuine “
Open Mind Policy” and watch great things start to happen in your
workplace. By the way it works effectively in your family as
well..
“ Boat rockers should be considered cherished resources not pains in
the neck.” M. Moore
Mike Moore is a speaker/ humorist who presents on the topics of “ Humor
in the Workplace”, “Humor and Stress Management” and “Maximizing Staff
Potential Using Humor and Recognition.” He can be reached at http://www.motivationalplus.com
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book him for a speaking engagement, contact him at 193 Balmoral Dr,
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Ontario, Canada N3R 7S2. Phone (519) 753-0702. Email mikemoore@motivationalplus.com
  
 
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