An Empty Desk!

An empty desk. Where is this employee and what is he doing? If he is not in the office, is he even working? Many of us have worked for someone with this antiquated (dare I say small-minded) mindset. 

I realize now, in the past, I had a boss with a very different mindset that was way ahead of the times! I was a sales representative working in a satellite office. One day I asked him what kind of reporting of my activities he would like me to submit. His answer was “like we discussed, you are at a sales level now that you do not need to report on your activities.” Later, after I had grown my sales volume even more, I asked him if I could put in for time off for a vacation. He laughed, grinned, and said “remember we reviewed this, at the level you are selling you do not need to ask for time off, you can work from anywhere and independently manage your schedule and time off. I don’t even care if you work if you keep selling this much!”

My boss had this great mindset way back in the 1990’s! Oh yeah, and he realized that when he saw my vacant desk, I WAS WORKING ELSEWHERE!

Let’s recap. My boss set clear expectations, created specific benchmarks, and gave me autonomy in my work as long as I kept hitting my goals. This mindset does NOT only apply to sales!

Today some leaders struggle with giving performing employees the freedom they deserve even though it is now part of our culture. Just because someone’s desk is empty, does not mean they are not working!

If you are struggling with how to change your mindset around employee benchmarks and autonomy (or something else), get in touch with me, I can help!

https://lnkd.in/gBKebsVE

#mindset #leadership #autonomy #trust