Author Archives: Tom Foster

About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.

Coaching Highest Capability

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You see the person relax. You know they are capable of more. But they stop, take a break, coast. Compared to their peers, head and shoulders above. So they get head and shoulders above and put it in neutral. You are the manager.

How can you bring this person to a higher plane of performance?

A skill is made of two things. There is a technical knowledge piece. That’s the stuff we go to school for. That is what is taught in textbooks. And it is necessary.

The other piece is most often overlooked, and that is practice. Technical knowledge and practiced performance make a skill. What is your role as a manager, as a coach, in making that happen?

In our coaching series in Working Leadership Online, so far this summer, we have looked at

  • Coaching – Bringing Value as a Manager
  • Coaching Underperformance – Time Span and the Employee Contract

We finish the series, kicking off next Monday, August 17.

  • Coaching Performance – Time Span and Highest Capability

We have reserved ten invitations for a free scholarship. If you would like to receive an invitation, please respond to Ask Tom.

Avoiding the Real Issue

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“I am still uncomfortable with confrontation,” Lauren explained. “There is a knot in the middle of my stomach.”

“How long have you felt this way?”

“About a week,” she said. “He is not doing his best. I saw that. I only started to feel uncomfortable when I knew I had to say something to him.”

“So, your stomach is your guidepost?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Your stomach is a valuable detector. Here is one thing for certain. If your stomach is upside down, it is likely you are dealing with a real issue. If your stomach feels fine, you can be assured you are avoiding the real issue.”

Lauren felt fine until the point of confrontation. While she observed underperformance, she was fine as long as she avoided the issue. Your stomach is a valuable detector. What issues are you avoiding?

Fear of Confrontation

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Managers contribute to underperformance by avoiding the issue. Managers hope. I am here to tell you there is no hope. There is only the conversation.

In our Working Leadership Online program, I asked a participant to describe the benefit of the Field Work related to accountability.

“Getting over the fear of having the conversation. I was scared it would spiral out of control. The meeting went nothing like I anticipated.”

We provide a proven model to deal with underperformance, but the biggest obstacle is still the fear of confrontation. Our model not only addresses the underperformance, but also the fear on the part of the manager. Here are the essential steps.

  • Describe the behavior (underperformance) you observed, as a manager.
  • Describe the impact of the behavior.
  • Describe the implications of what will happen if nothing changes.
  • Describe your contribution to the underperformance, as a manager. (Yes, as a manager, you are part of the problem.)
  • Describe the ideal outcome.
  • Ask for an action plan.
  • Listen.

Except for the last step, this is a monologue, lasting less than 60 seconds. There are some other ground rules, but this is the core. Now, check your fear at the door.

Confrontation

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“Why are you avoiding this conversation with Curtis?” I asked.

“I know I should talk to him, but I just don’t like confrontation. His production is below par. I don’t think he is doing his best. But if I talk to him, he might get upset and his production might get slower,” Lauren explained.

“How do you define confrontation?”

“Curtis screws up and I call him on it.”

“And?”

“And he will try to defend himself with excuses. I will have to argue with his excuses. I will have to force my reasons against his excuses. I just want to avoid it,” she protested.

“What if you changed your definition of confrontation to a search for the truth. Instead of excuses, let’s find out what the real problem is and see if Curtis can fix it?” I suggested.

Sometimes, the way we understand a single word can change the way we see what we do. Many people avoid confrontation because it brings uncomfortable images. If we can see confrontation as a search for the truth, we can have the conversation with a more productive purpose.

Calibrating the Complexity of a Goal

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I heard back from Michelle Malay Carter last week about a post we highlighted last week on Time Span. In her response, she posed this dilemma.

“We find that managers, even when they believe the concept is credible, struggle to articulate tasks in Time Span.”

I find the biggest difficulty in understanding Time Span is over-thinking it. Most managers make it way too difficult.

Time Span is simple. It is the Time part of every goal. A goal is a “What, By When?” That’s it. Time Span is the “By When” part. Michelle was correct. Most managers focus on the “What” part of the goal. The “By When” part is often an afterthought. But it is the “By When” that we need to pay attention to. It establishes accountability and calibrates the complexity of the goal.

When you think of the Time Span of any task assignment, just think about the goal, the “What, By When?” and you will have it.

Manager’s Double Accountability

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I listened with interest at your last Time Span workshop. How come we never heard of Elliott Jaques before? He makes so much management sense, yet he seems to have been a best kept secret.

Response:
Elliott is seldom included in the management literature, yet everything we know about organizations and organizational structure rests on the shoulders of his research. But if you look hard, you will find outposts, practitioners who continue his legacy.

Michelle Malay Carter writes often about Elliott and the principles contained in his research. Here is an excerpt from Mission Minded Management.

“Managers have double accountability. They, as employees themselves must bring their best to bear and give their managers their best advice, but in addition, they are accountable for the output of their team.” Read more.

Judgment About Behavior

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“Why does Taylor think he is getting a raise?” I asked. Dana had talked to Taylor about coming in late everyday, but her Positive Sandwich sent a mixed message.

“I didn’t want to upset him by coming down too hard. I need him to change his behavior, but I don’t want him to be angry at me,” Dana replied.

“Why do you think he would be angry?”

“No one likes to be criticized.”

“How can you deliver the message, the direct message, without criticizing?” I challenged.

“I don’t know,” Dana relented. “Everyone is late sometimes, but this is beginning to have an impact on the rest of the team.”

“So, there is some criticism that needs to be stated. Remember, there are only two people in this conversation. How can that criticism be put on the table without you being the critic?” I pressed.

Dana’s face relaxed. “I can describe the behavior and ask Taylor to describe the impact of the behavior.”

“And what if Taylor’s analysis of the impact is weak?”

“Then I will have to ask him a better question,” Dana nodded.

Most managers feel they have to be the critic and often criticism (a judgment about behavior, a judgment about effectiveness) needs to be stated.

Effective managers get to the same place by asking questions.

Cross Purposes in the Accountability Conversation

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Dana was almost trembling when I showed up. The color was gone from her face. “I don’t think I did that right,” she finally spoke.

“Step me through it,” I asked.

“I had to talk to Taylor. He has been coming late, dawdling on the work he is supposed to get done, really snippy with everybody around him, like he has a chip on his shoulder.”

“So, what happened?”

Dana shook her head from side to side. “Well, I tried to be positive first, then the negative part, then finished it off with another positive. But I don’t think I got my point across. He thinks he is going to get a raise.”

The Accountability Conversation often sends mixed signals. Managers enter this conversation with cross purposes. From the team member, Managers are looking for

  • A positive change in behavior
  • A positive attitude through the change

One of these usually fails.

Critical Factors

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
When you talked about Time Span in the workshop I attended, you described a person’s maximum capability and how it was important to match their capability with the Time Span of their task assignments. I have a person on my team that, I believe, is not working to their maximum. How can I motivate them to push harder?

Response:
It’s a fair question, but you may be looking for the answer in the wrong place. I am not certain that we, as managers, can motivate anyone to do anything. Elliott Jaques, in his research (Requisite Organization), describes several elements necessary for a person to reach that maximum.

One element, Elliott describes, is interest. Your team member may, indeed, possess the capability, the necessary skills to perform to your expectations, but if they lack the interest, you may be disappointed, as a manager.

What is it that we are interested in? What is it that we have passion for? It is those things in which we place a high value. And yes, we can place high value on the work that we do. If work that we value matches the work that we are doing, then magic happens. It captures our interest, our passion, and we will apply our maximum capability to the task at hand.

As a manager, you cannot motivate a team member, but you can ask questions to find out what work is valued to see how it matches the work they are doing. If it does, watch the magic.

Critical Elements for Success – Elliott Jaques, Requisite Organization
1. Capability (measured in Time Span)
2. Skill (technical knowledge and practiced performance)
3. Interest (work that is valued)
4. Reasonable behaviors required by the role

My Time Span?

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question
Identifying Time Span seems to be difficult. How do you make that assessment? How do I know my Time Span?

Response
Everyone has this curiosity. “What’s my Time Span?”

I usually avoid the question, skirt the conversation, redirect, distract, change the subject. But let’s take a stab.

I always start with purpose. What would be the purpose for you to know your own Time Span (capability)? Here is a quick list.

  • Am I working to my potential, as a person?
  • Am I paying attention to tasks appropriate for my role?
  • Am I allowing myself to get trapped in events and circumstances that play against my effectiveness?
  • Am I approaching problems and decisions with an eye to long term impact vs. short term comfort?
  • When I look to solve a problem, is the quality of the solution improved by thinking further into the future?

These are important questions. How can Time Span help us more clearly understand the answers to these questions? First, answer the questions.