Asking permission isn’t always the best strategy

My second boss taught me an important lesson in an unconventional way, and I recall it often. 

My role at the time was as a data analyst whose reports drove senior leaders’ decisions. I primarily supported sales management. The data I provided supported decisions from rep compensation to sales process improvements. 

There was only one hiccup. 

The private investment firm I worked for was unconventional in many ways. For example, the head of every single department rotated on a six-month basis. The head of sales would move to another function, and sales would then be led by someone without a sales background — the former head of HR, for example. 

This mattered to me because every six months my stakeholders changed, often to someone who’d never created a sales strategy or run a sales organization. With each leadership change, I'd have to evaluate how to best support the new lead (and their entirely new set of requirements).

What emerged was a scenario where I was creating an increasing number of reports. No old reports ever got retired, because inbound sales leadership might have found a use for them later. That meant constantly adding more work for me.

Enacting change without permission

I shared my dilemma with my boss. He agreed the strategy to add more work was ineffective. More frustrating was that I rarely heard anything in response to what I was sending. I lost sight of how what I was producing was contributing to anything meaningful. 

He suggested that, one by one, I stop sending the reports. Without asking for permission. 

Prior to his advice, I assumed sales leadership needed to be part of that decision. I spun circles vying for their time to make that decision with them. I was asking them to be proactive when they were all reactively adapting to their new functions.

But I took his advice and stopped sending the reports.

After that, when sales leadership needed something, they would ask. I most wanted to understand what was important to them so I could deliver value. Following my boss’s suggestion, I did finally learn what was meaningful to them. It simply presented itself differently from what I’d imagined.

I felt terror in stopping without getting their agreement up front. Yet, the increase in workload without an end in sight had weighed on me more.

It’s been a lifelong lesson

Part of my conditioning — and, I’d argue, that of many women — is to ask permission before taking action. When I want something to change, my natural tendency is to drive alignment before making a shift. If I'm being honest, this rarely works. 

The lesson from almost two decades ago shows me a different way to create change: Stop what I'm doing and see what happens. I play a part in any scenario I'm wanting to change. When I stop playing that part, the whole scenario changes and something new has to emerge.

The uncertainty before the new thing emerges can be unsettling. But something new will surface when I’m no longer playing my part.

Call for reflection:

What's one thing you're wanting to see change? Look at how you're contributing, and identify the thing you can stop. See what emerges in response.

Shine On,

Alicia