"A poor boss likes to show off how much he knows. A great boss helps his people grow." FS
I've got 26 years of experience in legal consulting and recruiting. I've been quoted in Forbes, Success, American Lawyer etc.
So at our firm, I am definitely the source of knowledge. And I won't let my employees ask me questions.
Why? They have all received comprehensive initial training and get at least three training sessions a week (usually more - I'm very big on training!).
So they no longer come to me with questions like
"How should I handle this situation?"
I require them to think like leaders, not ask questions like followers. Therefore, before they ask the question, they are required to review the candidate, research the client etc. and then make an Analysis & Recommendation. As a result, they come to me with
"Here's what is going on. Based on these factors, this is what I think we should do."
If they're right, they've grown and gotten better judgement and experience. If they're wrong, they learn even more because they see the difference between their analysis and that of someone who has been in that exact situation 100 times. What's best of all, is sometimes their analysis is different than mine and I'm wrong! Or they have an even better recommendation than I would have come up with. Then we BOTH grow!
As a result, I have recruiters who are less than a year in the business and making well into the six figures. I have seasoned veterans with over 15 years of experience who are (like me) learning every day. All of us are getting better at what we do, every month because as I’m fond of saying
“All of us are always smarter than any of us.”
Don let your people ask you questions. Force them to think like the boss and you’ll create a team of leaders.
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