SHARE INFORMATION.

With appropriate respect for confidentiality, share information freely throughout our organization. Always explain the context; the ‘why.’ The more people know, the better we can collaborate. Learn to ask yourself, “Who else needs to know this?” Share the good with the bad! Bad news doesn’t get better with age.

Imagine being blindfolded, your ears covered with sound cancelling head phones, sitting in a car with a steering wheel in your hands. You don’t know where you are, you cannot see or hear anything. You have zero information. I am going to bet that you don’t start that car and put it in gear; you’re going to wait until you can get more information, right?

Who? What? When? Where? WHY?? For any situation these questions, if properly and fully answered, will get you the information you need to plan & proceed. Our structure is designed to win via very high collaboration. For collaboration to happen properly, we need our team members to communicate. Communication amongst forthright, honest, aligned teammates fosters trust and trust is imperative if great collaboration is to occur.

I’ve found that for every day (non-confidential) matters, things are more likely to derail if too few people have the information than if too many people have the information. Thus, the downside to including too many, even tangentially involved people, is very low. I’ve also found that giving someone too much information isn’t as bad as giving them too little information. The more people know the better the results will be.

The Stellar Way Fundamental #3 is Listen Generously. Well, it’s incumbent on all of us to also give information generously.  Ask yourself if you’d want to know the information if you were on the other side of the discussion. Be proactive, complete and provide context so that the other party isn’t operating blind and deaf; so that they can aggressively drive to the desired result!