When something good or bad happens, or we have an idea, we want to share it. When we have a question, we want to ask it. When frustrated, we want to vent.

Do you ever get frustrated with people on your leadership team while solving problems or brainstorming ideas? They may ask too many questions, jump to conclusions too fast, are too quiet, or are always a pessimist. Do you sometimes wish they all had your “MO” when discussing these things? Wouldn’t that be great? Or would it?

I’ve observed an ailment in many sessions over the years, and lately I’ve been prescribing the remedy more than ever, so I thought it worthy of a blog. It occurs during issue solving, and odds are that you’re dealing with it too. When a leadership team is addressing an issue and one of the leaders is explaining the issue to the entire team, many times he or she makes very general, generic statements to all team members when the issue really only has to do with one or two people. This normally stems from a fear of conflict or lack of accountability on the team, and it’s costing you valuable time and causing murkiness, confusion, and lack of resolution.

It isn’t easy to get your team on the same page when it comes to meeting business goals and driving revenue. Without setting clear expectations and outlining your goals, teams often lose direction and focus, causing the wheels to spin out of control. Seeing and wanting the same thing for the whole team is just one step in the process – as a leader, you have to take it one step further to really get the momentum going.

Imagine a world where everyone takes responsibility for their actions. Okay, maybe we can’t accomplish this in the entire world, but you can in your company. Why not start there? You should be able to call each other out when necessary, so why don’t you? What’s wrong with saying, “You dropped the ball?” How refreshing would it be? Or even better, someone says, “I dropped the ball” before you have to.