It was a fair question. We were talking about core management skills that companies don’t train.
“How do you teach a supervisor how to hold a team member accountable for performance?” asked Erwin. “I mean, it sounds good. It’s a great buzzword, but come on. I just don’t see how you teach it.”
“I get the impression, you think accountability is a skill that can’t be trained,” I replied. “Tell me, how important is it?”
“Well, it’s important, but I am just not convinced it is something that can be trained.” Erwin’s jaw was set.
“I can see your point,” I said. “That’s why most companies don’t train their managers to do it. They think it’s important, but they don’t teach it.” Erwin was skeptical, but I had his attention.
“There are really two parts to accountability,” I continued. “First, is how to do it, the steps, the method. That’s the easy part. The second part is tougher. It’s all about the head trash swimming in the brain of the manager. In teaching, I spend more time on that part than the method.
“Tell you what, Erwin, meet me here on Monday for coffee and we’ll talk more about both parts.”
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We have been working hard on a new curriculum. Our next management program kicks off July 24, 2006, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Follow this link to find out more.
Tour de France Update
Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) is making his move. It was very deliberate Wednesday, to hang back, conserving energy for Thursday’s stage, minimizing the time loss and waiting to strike. His third place finish in Stage 11 gained him an 8 second time bonus which marks the current lead over Stage 10’s winner, Cyril Dessel (FRA-A2R). If Landis’ team can protect him through the next three stages in the Alps, he may keep the jersey into Paris.
This tough Stage 11 saw Discovery’s team crumble with George Hincapie (USA-DSC) dropping to 40th place gapping down 23:00min. Paolo Salvoldelli (ITA-DSC) is 24:00min behind Landis. Unless there is catastrophic chaos at the top of the heap, this margin puts both riders out of range of the podium. Only Discovery’s Yaroslav Popovych (UKR-DSC) has any chance and he is down 9:00min.
Overall Standings After Stage Eleven
1-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO -49hrs 18min 7sec
2-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+8sec
3-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+1min 1sec
4-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 17sec
5-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+1min 52sec
6-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+2min 29sec
7-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+3min 22sec
8-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+3min 33sec
9-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+3min 44sec
10-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+4min 17sec
11-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+4min 26sec
12-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+5min 38sec
13-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+5min 39sec
14-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+5min 54sec
15-LANDALUZE, Inigo -ESP-EUS –+6min 33sec