{"id":7901,"date":"2023-08-21T19:37:05","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T00:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/?p=7901"},"modified":"2023-08-21T19:37:06","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T00:37:06","slug":"why-playing-the-if-just-one-person-card-is-a-losing-leadership-game-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/21\/why-playing-the-if-just-one-person-card-is-a-losing-leadership-game-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Playing The \u201cIf Just One Person\u201d Card Is A Losing Leadership Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

As a leader, playing the \u201cIf just one person\u201d card is one of the weakest ways to justify a decision. It shows that you are holding a weak hand.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Playing the \u201cIf just one person\u201d card seems to be a growing trend among many organizations, and it comes from a false formula in many aspects of the resource distribution process.<\/p>\n

Spot the card, before it is dealt<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Playing the \u201cif just one person card\u201d typically unfolds in this manner. During the budgeting process someone will notice an unusually large dollar figure attached to a new or unproven initiative.<\/p>\n

The defender of the line item will then apply this logic. \u201cHey,\u00a0if even\u00a0one person<\/strong>\u00a0is helped by this, it will have been worth it!\u201d<\/p>\n

The same reasoning pops up in other resource discussions too, such as:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \n

    If\u00a0just one person<\/u>\u00a0hears about our company because of this marketing campaign\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    If\u00a0just one person<\/u>\u00a0agrees to start supporting our cause\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    If\u00a0just one person<\/u>\u00a0signs up for this program\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    You get the idea. Put your radar on \u201cfull alert\u201d when you start to hear \u201cif just one person\u201d language in your organization.<\/p>\n

    Recognize why the logic is faulty<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    In reality there is a dangerous false economy at work here. Suppose, for example, the line item is for $20,000 and it is being justified on the \u201cIf Just One Person\u201d logic. But could there have been a far more effective initiative which, for that same $20,000, could have connected with 10 people? Or 20? Or 100?<\/p>\n

    Know how to respond<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Those who toss the \u201cif just one person\u201d line into the resource conversation often place a very high value on the importance of each individual who can be reached or impacted through the organization. That is a value worthy of respect.<\/p>\n

    They key is to respond with the equally important value of good stewardship. Have the courage to point out that there is still a leadership responsibility at play which requires a maximum return on each dollar.<\/p>\n

    The stewardship value doesn\u2019t negate the value of the individual; it simply places it in a proper context. Point out that the right to impact each individual is earned through the process of maximizing the return on each investment.<\/p>\n

    Why is this a big deal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Maximizing resources is a vital leadership responsibility. And it requires playing the strongest leadership hand possible.<\/p>\n

    So be sure that you don\u2019t lead by playing the \u201cIf just one person\u201d card.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As a leader, playing the \u201cIf just one person\u201d card is one of the weakest ways to justify a decision. It shows that you are holding a weak hand. Playing the \u201cIf just one person\u201d card seems to be a growing trend among many organizations, and it comes from a false formula in many aspects…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1018,7],"tags":[1044,984],"class_list":["post-7901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decisions","category-leadership","tag-decisions","tag-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7902,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901\/revisions\/7902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}