How well do you push your own thinking before involving others?

Our reader poll today asks: How well do you push your own thinking before involving others?

– Very well — I advance ideas as much as possible before relying on others: 59.4%
– Well — I could stand to do a little more thinking though: 36.32%
– Not well — I’m overly reliant on others to advance the thinking: 3.42%
– Poorly — I rarely advance the thinking before involving others: 0.85%

Think Then Think Some More. Investing time thinking through your ideas is worth the effort. It increases efficiency as you’re not wasting a stakeholder’s time by having them think through something you can figure out. It builds your skills in terms of creativity and anticipation. It also improves your reputation as a more strategic thinker. So the next time you’re about to involve a stakeholder in your thoughts, pause and ask yourself if you’ve thought about the issue as much as you can. If the answer is no, keep thinking.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 200,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.