Enough dieting: Try this midyear resolution to improve your leadership

Hard to believe, but this week marks the beginning of the second half of 2015. Six months have passed since many of us resolved to improve ourselves in some way—eat smarter, exercise regularly, spend more time with the family, stop reading email 24/7.

How are you doing with all that?

Yeah, me too. Well, our intentions were good.

So let’s try again. And while it might not be traditional to add resolutions at the halfway mark, let me suggest one that could help you be a better manager, almost overnight.

Make fewer assumptions.

It’s ironic, I know, but journalists (whose work seeks to challenge assumptions with facts) are no different from other professionals when it comes to making assumptions about all manner of things. For instance:

• “That reporter does straight news; he couldn’t handle this assignment. It needs a writer.”
• “My boss sends me emails after midnight. Answering them is killing my sleep.”
• “She’s been covering government for 20 years. She wouldn’t want to be a features reporter.”

Assumptions like these—and hundreds more like them—exist because of one failing many managers have: we don’t challenge our assumptions with the people who can set us straight.

As a result, we base a variety of decisions every day on bad information. That not only affects our performance, it affects the people we work for: our bosses and our staffs.

Month after month, I meet newsroom managers who tell me they are overwhelmed by their workloads. In seminars, I ask how many have received additional responsibilities since the day they accepted their current role.

Nearly all raise their hands.

Then I ask how many have had a good conversation with the boss about how the new responsibilities affect the boss’s expectations for them. Some raise their hands. Most do not.

They assume they are just supposed to get it all done. Sometimes they are right. Many times they are not. They need to talk.

In fact, managers should be talking with their bosses about expectations regularly. Why? Because your responsibilities, your challenges and your priorities are changing regularly. Why wouldn’t you want to make sure you’re using the same songbook?

I once got a new boss who sent me at least a half-dozen story ideas every day. Not all at once, mind you, but throughout the day. As days passed and the pile of notes grew on my desk, I grew more and more scared that I was failing. Then one day, I took a deep breath and went into his office. “What do you want me to do with all of these ideas?” I asked.

He looked up at me, slightly bemused. “I just want you to know what I know,” he said. “You’re doing a good job. And I promise—if I ever have a problem with how you’re doing, I’ll tell you.”

The weight of a thousand assumptions was lifted from my shoulders. I began assigning stories with more confidence. It didn’t take me as long to make decisions because I wasn’t juggling unnecessarily.

I had tested my assumptions and received something I desperately needed: clarity.

We all need clarity—especially in times as busy as these. What is expected of you? Not three months ago when you took your job. Today. What is expected of you today?

Try this exercise: Start a list of the things you assume your boss wants from you. How many hours are you expected to work? How many times are you expected to check in at work on weekends? How are you supposed to respond, if at all, to emails you receive after work hours? How many stories are you expected to personally edit? Does your boss prefer to be updated through long weekly memos, or would she prefer a 10-minute visit?

If you’ve already had a conversation in which your boss has addressed your assumption, cross it off the list. Then, as time goes on, add items to the list that you need to talk with your boss about.

That’s step one: the boss. But what about all of the assumptions you make about your staff and your peers? How are those assumptions—how they do their jobs, what they aspire to, how they motivate themselves—affecting your effectiveness?

I know, I know. This could be overwhelming. Trying to address all of your assumptions at once will make this resolution go the way of losing weight and exercising more. Let’s start slowly.

Within the next week, have just three conversations:

• Talk with the boss about how you are prioritizing your workload each day. Explain why: how those priorities are helping to achieve the newsroom’s goals. Suggest changes you’d like to make or approaches you’d like to try. Make sure that when you leave the meeting, you are clear about what the boss expects of you.
• Ask one staffer what kind of work they most enjoy doing, and what idea they would like to pursue. Dig a bit. Seek to understand what about that type of work is satisfying. As for their idea, ask what stands in the way of trying it; if you are the one standing in the way, test your assumptions about the idea and/or the staffer’s ability to pursue it. In the best case, you’ll agree on a way to try the idea that minimizes risk for you and the staffer.
• Talk with another staffer about your expectations for them. If you’ve increased their responsibilities over time, make sure the two of you have the same priorities. Try to identify areas in which the staffer is making erroneous assumptions about what you want. What do you expect from coverage of that beat? How many assignments should the staffer be able to carry out each day? How much time should I be spending on social media, and what kind of social media activity do you value most? Don’t leave before you have an understanding of how the staffer does his or her job and why—without that, you’ll have trouble agreeing on priorities.

Three conversations. If you are like most managers, the exercise will get you thinking about how much you’ve been assuming—and why it pays to address them, one conversation at a time.