Relying on the wealth of knowledge from a group of people can help leaders make informed decisions
After decades spent working in the mortgage industry, I've gotten to know a great many leaders. One of the challenges I often hear expressed from them is that it's easy to feel like everyone is counting on us for everything.
We take complete responsibility for everything that goes on in our organizations, because we feel that people are expecting us to do so.
Of course, as leaders in our industry, we should feel a sense of responsibility. That comes with the territory. On the other hand, burdening ourselves with more than we can carry just for the sake of appearing like we're in control can be a form of hubris. No matter how great of a leader we are, we can't do everything. Part of becoming a great leader is developing the humility to realize and admit that we need help.
Recently, I read the book Bold by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. In the book, the authors talk about many different things that can help leaders make a big impact. One concept they bring up rather frequently is the concept of crowdsourcing. Essentially, crowdsourcing an activity or idea is outsourcing it to a large group of people. It's relying on the wealth of knowledge from a group of people to make an informed decision.
As leaders, we would do well to engage in more crowdsourcing. The temptation is always there to try to do it all ourselves. But we don't have all the answers and, chances are, someone out there does. So why not tap into that wealth of knowledge? The answers we get can make us better leaders than we could have ever imagined.
We take complete responsibility for everything that goes on in our organizations, because we feel that people are expecting us to do so.
Of course, as leaders in our industry, we should feel a sense of responsibility. That comes with the territory. On the other hand, burdening ourselves with more than we can carry just for the sake of appearing like we're in control can be a form of hubris. No matter how great of a leader we are, we can't do everything. Part of becoming a great leader is developing the humility to realize and admit that we need help.
Recently, I read the book Bold by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. In the book, the authors talk about many different things that can help leaders make a big impact. One concept they bring up rather frequently is the concept of crowdsourcing. Essentially, crowdsourcing an activity or idea is outsourcing it to a large group of people. It's relying on the wealth of knowledge from a group of people to make an informed decision.
As leaders, we would do well to engage in more crowdsourcing. The temptation is always there to try to do it all ourselves. But we don't have all the answers and, chances are, someone out there does. So why not tap into that wealth of knowledge? The answers we get can make us better leaders than we could have ever imagined.
