Bring a Solution, No Matter How Crazy It Is
In his Wisdom From The Patio video series, Kongusto President and founder Joel Ciniero describes the culture he expects from his team: bring solutions, own the outcome together, and keep going even when winning is off the table. According to Joel Ciniero, what great business people do is solve problems. It’s a standard he applies to his own team. “I always expect you to bring a potential solution to the problem, no matter how crazy it is,” he says. A problem that arrives without any attempt at a solution isn’t what he’s looking for. The second half of that expectation is accountability. “If we all agree as a team that the solution is X and we execute on X and we fail, we live together, we die together,” Ciniero explains. “We don’t go on a witch hunt and look for somebody to blame.” In his view, failure doesn’t have to be the end of the story. A setback can become the plateau from which a team starts to grow next. To make the point, Ciniero turns to the last-place finisher in a race. The runner isn’t remembered as a loser, he says. “You remember them because you know they ran into problems.” What matters is what that person chose to do next. “What they didn’t do was drop out and be one of the middle people who never crossed the finish line. They had the grit to know they weren’t going to win and finish anyway.” For telecom providers, managed service providers, contact centers, and outsourcing organizations, the message speaks to how a team is led as much as how it performs. When people are expected to bring ideas, and know a missed result won’t turn into a hunt for someone to blame, they have more reason to take the swing. It’s a straightforward view of leadership from an executive who asks his team for solutions first and shares the outcome after. The takeaway: A team that brings solutions and owns results together can keep moving even when the outcome isn’t a win. Watch Joel Ciniero’s “Embrace failure” video, part of his Wisdom From The Patio series. Connect with Joel Ciniero Joel Ciniero is President and Founder of Kongusto, a nearshore outsourcing company. To learn more about his perspectives on business leadership, workforce strategy, and outsourcing excellence, visit www.kongusto.co or contact him at [email protected].