2-1-10 Salute Smartly

I’ve always been a pretty aggressive person. I get an idea or a bee in my bonnet and I go for it. Generally, that has served me well in the work environment. But not always…….

Back when I was a first level manager, I had responsibility for the financial systems in the company. I remember one time where we had an upgrade to one of the systems that the team was proposing. We had done our research and come up with what I considered to be a very elegant solution. We went to the bosses and made our case. I thought it went very well.

What I didn’t realize was the full scope of the available support and funding for the opportunity.

As a result, we were told “no”. Instead, we were told to go do a smaller, less elegant solution. My team and I didn’t agree with this solution. So I went back to make our case again, and again, and again….. Well you get the idea. I was working hard to get approval for something that my team and I thought was the absolute right way to go. I guess that I was more than a little vocal about the situation.

Finally, my boss took me aside. He said, “Look, I really appreciate your passion for this and I really appreciate how you are supporting your team”. But then he went on to say, “Now knock it the hell off”. He wanted me to understand that having passion about your work is a good thing. However, I REALLY needed to learn that once the decision has been made, to quit arguing. That I needed to step back, salute smartly, and support the company line.

He went on to explain that by continuing to argue, I was giving my people false hope that the decision would be reversed. And I was subtlety encouraging them to rebel against what had been decided. Further, there would be times in my work life that I wouldn’t agree with the company position. But that until I was the CEO, I would have to swallow my arguments and support the company decision.

Frankly, that was a difficult lesson to learn. We all like to think that we are right in every situation. And maybe we are. But being right doesn’t trump supporting your company‘s tactics and direction. When it comes right down to it, there are times when you will have to internalize your disagreement and get on with business.

Cheers!