It was a simple question. After all was said, I am not even sure Erwin expected an answer. We had been talking about accountability, specifically, how to train managers to hold team members accountable.
Erwin wasn’t sure that it was even possible. Perhaps he was becoming a believer.
The first step is building the connection. The second step is the model itself, the sequence of steps. The third step, aahh, the third step is practice. This is the step most companies miss.
“Bring them to a meeting, run them through a PowerPoint, answer a few questions. Boom. They should get it. Right?” Erwin was staring, not a blank stare, but a focused stare. Behind his eyes danced the hundreds of hours his company had spent training its managers.
“Was it a waste?” he finally asked.
“I can show you how to throw a ball, but if you want to get good at it, what do you have to do?” It was my turn to stare.
Erwin took a long time to respond. “Like a Little League team?” he quietly whispered.
“Like a Little League team. Most companies expect a high level of performance after a single pass in training.
“How do you teach accountability? The method is easy. It’s the practice that’s hard. In fact, most companies skip the practice, then wonder what happened.” -TF
Monday, July 24 is the kickoff day for our Working Management Series. We have four spaces left. For more information, follow this link.
Tour de France Update
You may have noticed we missed our TDF coverage yesterday. I was in a small township in Pennsylvania with a cobbled together internet connection. Just enough bandwidth to crank out a couple of emails, but not enough to post the update.
It was the second stage in the Alps, which brought out the real mettle. Mickael Rasmussen (DEN-RAB) had his way, true to his favorite form, by himself all alone. No sprint to the finish, as the contenders were already done many kilometers before. Even Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) was broken, dropped in a breakaway by Carlos Sastre (ESP-CSC) with 10km to go. Landis never recovered and lost ground to all the top riders, ending the day in 11th place overall, eight minutes behind.
But Thursday was different. Landis recovered from the dead, against all odds makers. In a calculated move, Team Phonak lead off the front of the peleton, following an escape of eleven. Once Landis had caught the yellow jersey, he pummeled forward to the chase group and picked them off one by one. He crossed the finish alone, almost six minutes ahead of Sastre and seven minutes ahead of Oscar Pereiro (ESP-CEI).
After all was said and done, it is these three separated by thirty seconds.
Overall Standings after Stage 17
1-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI -80hrs 8min 49sec
2-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+12sec
3-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+30sec
4-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+2min 29sec
5-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+3min 8sec
6-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+4min 14sec
7-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+4min 24sec
8-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 45sec
9-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+8min 16sec
10-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+12min 13sec
11-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+13min 48sec
12-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+13min 52sec
13-CAUCCHIOLI, Pietro -ITA-C.A –+15min 46sec
14-CUNEGO, Damiano -ITA-LAM –+17min 18sec
15-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+17min 23sec
16-VALJAVEC, Tadej -SLO-LAM –+20min 50sec
17-RASMUSSEN, Mickael -DEN-RAB –+21min 4sec
18-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+22min 1sec
19-AZEVEDO, José -POR-DSC –+34min 1sec
20-ARROYO, David -ESP-CEI –+37min 11sec