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How to Demoralise Your Team 5: Steal their ideas and claim the credit

28
Aug 2011

Brilliant ideas and intellectual property (IP) carry great weight in business. What happens when team members bring cutting edge and outstanding ideas to you?

Some leaders try extracting all the IP from their subordinates, promise they will attribute the idea to them and then claim all the glory when presenting it to their own boss.

You wouldn’t do that I trust? If you did, then what motivates you to be so selective with the credit? How could you forget to directly acknowledge where the finest ideas come from?

The team won’t get bitten too often and if they do, their idea stream will dwindle to a trickle. It is a great way to disempower them and kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

So great leaders are not afraid to bring on team members, grow them and promote their ideas and their futures. That way people give such powerful extra discretionary energy to you and the firm.

Good luck in promoting your stars and their ideas.
Warm regards Jonathan

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