I was meeting a friend, and he invited me to given an impromptu talk to his staff. I said what I have often said in my company.
First, get rid of the fear of failure in all that you do. More often than not, it is not failure that holds us back, but the fear of failure. That takes away our risk-taking capabilities and makes us ultra-cautious. And that is not good for the company, in general. Failure can be the biggest teacher. And if we don’t have the gumption to fail, we will never succeed.
Second, make decisions as if it is your own company. Not every decision can be referred to a manager for permission. People have to make decisions regularly. And the principle to be followed is – what would you do if this was your own company. If that thinking can be pervasive, one can be quite certain people will do what is right more often than not.
