ImagesMagUK_May_2021

74 images MAY 2021 www.images-magazine.com When everything connects to you, that’s not efficient BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT KB The ‘Mothermay I?’ syndrome Fed up with constantly being asked to solve problems? Don’t blame your staff, blame your management style, cautions Marshall Atkinson H ave you heard about the ‘Mother may I?’ syndrome? Maybe not, but chances are that you have experienced this. The ‘Mother may I?’ syndrome is when seemingly nobody on your staff can do anything without your approval or opinion. When everyone is constantly hammering you with questions or challenges that only you can solve. When you spend all day solving other people’s problems, meaning that you don’t get a chance to actually get much accomplished. Pssst. Here’s a secret... This is your own fault. You have trained your staff to behave this way because you have never challenged them or trained them or empowered any of them to think on their own. When everything connects to you, that’s not efficient. Wouldn’t it be nice to have trained, smart, talented and self-motivated people working for you for a change? Let’s fix that ‘Mother may I?’ problem. Here are some steps for you. Look for patterns Pull out a notepad, write on a whiteboard, or create a new spreadsheet. Whatever tool you use, start jotting down instances where you get pulled into the decision-making matrix. “What do you think about…?” “Where do I find…?” “Can we do…?” “How should we…?” Here’s what I want you to find out. Are these legitimate questions because your staff member has not been trained or empowered to make a decision about something? Of course you should help people, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. A good chunk of the time, your staff knows the answer to whatever they are asking. However, they know through experience that they have to bring it to you due to your unwillingness to empower them, train them, or even ask them for their opinion. In fact, I’ll bet that if you asked them, they know the answer. But they are unwilling to go out on a limb with it because they are scared to make a mistake or openly voice their solution. The fear of being wrong is stronger than their desire to be efficient with their work. Which is why they are constantly asking for their ‘mother’s’ permission. Problems are opportunity. Recurring problems are not I know you’ve read the phrase ‘problems are an opportunity’ before. I think that’s true. When a problem emerges, as leaders this is a wonderful opportunity to make a change for the better if we just have the courage to do something. Digging in and changing a process, or finding a new solution is what makes us tick.