Why Jenniffer Deckard listens and collaborates at Fairmount Minerals

Deckard says that employees and other constituents see that as her ultimate goal, and it helps create that collaboration, as well.
“Even if you’re digging into something that may be proprietary or sensitive to a group or a person, it’s always done with, ‘What can we do best for the organization, and how can we work together?’ because a successful organization is what can elevate the success of all individuals,” she says.
As she looks to move the business forward, she’s keenly aware of the many opportunities. As those opportunities present themselves, she also looks to other people for their input in assessing them.
“Don’t look at opportunities in a vacuum,” she says. “I get feedback from people on opportunities, usually because opportunities are collaborative. It’s not, ‘This opportunity comes up for Jenniffer.’ It’s, ‘There’s an opportunity, and usually there’s more than one self involved.’”
It also depends on what the opportunity is. Sometimes, she says you just have to decide and move forward, which is how she tends to make decisions if it affects just her.
“If you think too much about it, you can talk yourself out of anything,” she says.
She’s more inclined to jump, especially when it’s her resources, but when it comes to other people’s resources, that’s when she comes back to collaboration.
“That’s when I’ll take a much more analytical approach to an opportunity,” she says.
It’s important to make sure you’re looking at other people when you make decisions and not just looking at how it impacts you. If you can’t take this approach, you’ll be hard-pressed to find success as a leader in business.
“Often, when you try to squeeze out the very last shred of benefit for yourself, you risk losing much bigger future opportunities,” Deckard says. “But when you take an approach that everyone shares in the success, the overall success for you and for everyone else is infinitely greater.”
How to reach: Fairmount Minerals Ltd., (800) 237-4986 or www.fairmountminerals.com