No Result
View All Result
SUBSCRIBE | NO FEES, NO PAYWALLS
MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTION
NEWSLETTER
Corporate Compliance Insights
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • CCI Magazine
    • Writing for CCI
    • Career Connection
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Library
    • Download Whitepapers & Reports
    • Download eBooks
    • New: Living Your Best Compliance Life by Mary Shirley
    • New: Ethics and Compliance for Humans by Adam Balfour
    • 2021: Raise Your Game, Not Your Voice by Lentini-Walker & Tschida
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
    • Great Women in Compliance
    • Unless: The Podcast (Hemma Lomax)
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • Events
  • Subscribe
Jump to a Section
  • At the Office
    • Ethics
    • HR Compliance
    • Leadership & Career
    • Well-Being at Work
  • Compliance & Risk
    • Compliance
    • FCPA
    • Fraud
    • Risk
  • Finserv & Audit
    • Financial Services
    • Internal Audit
  • Governance
    • ESG
    • Getting Governance Right
  • Infosec
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
  • Opinion
    • Adam Balfour
    • Jim DeLoach
    • Mary Shirley
    • Yan Tougas
No Result
View All Result
Corporate Compliance Insights
Home Featured

Don’t Pay Your Employees from the Neck Down

Delegating Decision-Making Effectively

by Linda Henman
March 11, 2019
in Featured, Leadership and Career
man facing giant brain

Are you paying employees for their decisions, or just the execution of someone else’s? Linda Henman provides guidance on determining whether you have capable decision-makers at hand and shares how you can offload some decision-making authority with one simple question.

Scott, a leader in a large construction company, recently expressed his frustration that too many people in his chain of command didn’t think things through. He said he’d been tempted to point out, “You don’t get paid from the neck down!” I asked Scott if he was sure about that. Too often, leaders think they pay employees for decisions when they’ve really been paying them for the execution of decisions—not the decisions themselves.

Experience tells us that people typically repeat behaviors for which they are rewarded, so how does a boss encourage more and better decision-making? It all starts with delegating decision-making to the lowest level in the organization along with the authority to implement the decision. This advice won’t work unless you have strong decision-makers working for you, however. To determine whether you do, ask these questions:

  • Does this person understand how to separate strategy from tactics, the “what” from the “how”?
  • Does this person allow “analysis paralysis” to cause opportunity to slip away?
  • How does this person respond to setbacks and disappointments?
  • How does chaos affect this person?
  • Can this person see patterns, make logical connections, resolve contradictions, and anticipate consequences?
  • What success has this person had with multi-tasking?
  • Can this person think on his / her feet?
  • Does this person jump to wrong conclusions?
  • Is this person able to zero in on the critical few and put aside the trivial many when allocat­ing time and resources?
  • Does this person get to the core of complicated is­sues and immediately begin to formulate possible solutions?
  • Can this person paint credible pictures of possi­bilities and likelihoods?
  • Can this person solve complicated, unfamiliar problems?
  • How do unexpected and unpleasant changes af­fect this person’s performance?
  • When in a position of leadership, does this person serve as a source of advice and wisdom?

Scott knows that when he hears “knock knock” on his door jamb that he is also about to hear the inevitable question, “Do you have a minute?” Scott realizes that this minute usually turns into a ten-minute conversation, during which the direct report hopes to use Scott’s brain to solve a problem. More importantly, however, Scott has learned how to quash this sort of intellectual laziness.

Now, when one of Scott’s direct reports brings him a problem, he immediately asks, “What solution do you think will work?” Good things happen when bosses ask this question.

First, Scott might hear a sterling solution and avoid wasting ten minutes on something he didn’t need to get involved in. Second, when people know they will have to figure things out for themselves, they put more effort into finding a solution. Of course, it’s far easier to just use the boss’s idea, because if things go wrong, who would blame the direct report for following orders?

Most importantly, bosses like Scott can get a glimpse into the direct report’s thought processes to determine whether this person can take on more decision-making responsibilities. Also, people who devise solutions to their own problems usually feel more committed to turning the solution into a success. In short, everyone wins, and no one loses when employees truly earn their paychecks from the neck up.


Previous Post

ECI’s 2018 Global Business and Ethics Survey

Next Post

“You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby”

Linda Henman

Linda Henman

Dr. Linda Henman is one of those rare experts who can say she’s a coach, consultant, speaker, and author. For more than 30 years, she has worked with Fortune 500 Companies and small businesses that want to think strategically, grow dramatically, promote intelligently, and compete successfully today and tomorrow. Some of her clients include Emerson Electric, Boeing, Avon and Tyson Foods. She was one of eight experts who worked directly with John Tyson after his company’s acquisition of International Beef Products, one of the most successful acquisitions of the twentieth century. Linda holds a Ph.D. in organizational systems and two Master of Arts degrees in both interpersonal communication and organization development and a Bachelor of Science degree in communication. Whether coaching executives or members of the board, Linda offers clients coaching and consulting solutions that are pragmatic in their approach and sound in their foundation—all designed to create exceptional organizations. She is the author of Landing in the Executive Chair: How to Excel in the Hot Seat, The Magnetic Boss: How to Become the Leader No One Wants to Leave, and contributing editor and author to Small Group Communication, among other works. Dr. Henman can be reached at linda@henmanperformancegroup.com.

Related Posts

check engine light

What Gets Measured Gets Managed, but What Actually Matters in Compliance?

by Keshonda Walker
May 16, 2025

Looking beyond standard measurements to identify the quiet signals that help compliance teams address issues before they become crises

call center mentor and caller

Telemarketing Rule Update Demands Faster Action on Consumer Opt-Outs

by Paul St. Clair
May 16, 2025

New requirements reduce opt-out processing time from 30 to 10 days and expand what qualifies as a "reasonable" consumer revocation...

Au10Tix AML Update

AU10TIX Adds Continuous Risk Monitoring to AML Platform

by Corporate Compliance Insights
May 15, 2025

Identity verification company AU10TIX has launched a continuous risk monitoring capability as part of its anti-money laundering solution, designed to...

MirrorWeb AI Launch

MirrorWeb Launches New AI-Powered Tool

by Corporate Compliance Insights
May 15, 2025

Communications supervision platform provider MirrorWeb has released Sentinel, a compliance solution powered in part by AI technology like natural language...

Next Post
vintage B&W woman looking suspiciously at man offering her a cigarette

“You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby”

No Result
View All Result

Privacy Policy | AI Policy

Founded in 2010, CCI is the web’s premier global independent news source for compliance, ethics, risk and information security. 

Got a news tip? Get in touch. Want a weekly round-up in your inbox? Sign up for free. No subscription fees, no paywalls. 

Follow Us

Browse Topics:

  • CCI Press
  • Compliance
  • Compliance Podcasts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Privacy
  • eBooks Published by CCI
  • Ethics
  • FCPA
  • Featured
  • Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • Governance
  • GRC Vendor News
  • HR Compliance
  • Internal Audit
  • Leadership and Career
  • On Demand Webinars
  • Opinion
  • Research
  • Resource Library
  • Risk
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Well-Being
  • Whitepapers

© 2025 Corporate Compliance Insights

Welcome to CCI. This site uses cookies. Please click OK to accept. Privacy Policy
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • CCI Magazine
    • Writing for CCI
    • Career Connection
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Library
    • Download Whitepapers & Reports
    • Download eBooks
    • New: Living Your Best Compliance Life by Mary Shirley
    • New: Ethics and Compliance for Humans by Adam Balfour
    • 2021: Raise Your Game, Not Your Voice by Lentini-Walker & Tschida
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
    • Great Women in Compliance
    • Unless: The Podcast (Hemma Lomax)
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2025 Corporate Compliance Insights