“You trained your team not to solve problems,” I stated flatly.

Rafael pushed against the table. There was a little teeny tiny vein in his forehead that was beginning to show. “By giving them the answer, I was training them not to solve problems? Ridiculous!”

“Say that again.”

“What? By giving them the answer, I was training them not to solve problems?” Rafael loosened his grip on the table. His head slowly moved from side to side. “So, it was me after all.”
__
I would like to thank Jim Heller and his two TEC groups in Milwaukee for their kind hospitality last week as we explored the research of Elliott Jaques and his findings on Time Span. Elliott Jaques – Part II, is now available.

On July 6, Working Leadership Online begins its Summer Coaching Series. Here is the curriculum.

This nine week series is based on the research of Elliott Jaques and his findings on Time Span. Each participant who registers for the series will receive a complimentary copy of Catalytic Coaching, by Gary Markle. Register here.
__
“What do you mean?” Rafael leaned forward. “If our customer has a problem, what am I supposed to do, ignore it?”

“You know better than that. You know the problem has to get fixed, but why do you think your guys, faced with a customer problem, always run to you for the answer?” I pushed the ball back in Rafael’s court.

“Well, it’s because I have a couple of decades of experience at this,” floated Rafael.

“No, try again,” I insisted. “Why does your team, faced with a problem, turn to you instead of solving it themselves?”

Rafael stopped. “This is a trick question, isn’t it?”

I raised my eyebrow.

“Don’t be a smart-ass,” Rafael replied. “I guess you are right. We train on our procedures manual when they are first hired, but it’s not like they spend much time with their nose in the book after that. But still, you would think-”

“Stop,” I said. “Stop with the whining. Look, Rafael. Your guys run into a customer problem they can’t solve and they run to you. There are two things going on here. They bring you the problem and what do you do?”

“I give them the answer,” Rafael shot back.

“That’s the first misstep,” I replied.

Wheels up to Milwaukee today. I am working with Jim Heller and his two Vistage groups on the research of Elliott Jaques.
__
“So, you feel like your team lines up outside your door, pitching the same problem, over and over at you?” I asked.

“It’s not the same problem,” Rafael replied, “but you would think that if I told them the answer to one problem, they should be able to take the answer and figure out the next one.”

“Is that how you do it?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, most times, our customer’s problems are not that different. You figure out one, and you should be able to figure out the next. And we have the solutions to most of our customer problems written down in our procedures manual.”

“And your team reads the manual a lot?” I smiled.

I would like to thank Karen King and her three Vistage groups in Albuquerque for their kind hospitality last week. Elliott Jaques – Part II, is now available.
__
Rafael looked glum. “I’m tired,” he said.

“Physically tired, burned out tired or bummed out tired?” I asked. (This is known as a diagnostic question).

He cracked a smile. “Cross between burned out and bummed out. Seems like I am always solving the same problems, over and over.”

“Like what?”

“It’s my team. It doesn’t seem like they can solve any of the problems they run into. They are always running to me. And it’s the same kind of problem over and over. You would think they would figure it out.”

“What do you think you are going to do?” I pushed.

Rafael leaned back, and joked, “I think I am going to have to get one of those take-a-number machines.”

“Do you bring value in this manager-team member relationship by issuing directives and orders, calling meetings (that she doesn’t show up to), getting angry when she doesn’t do what you tell her to do?” I challenged.

“I would think that she would have some respect,” Joan finally fought back.

I shook my head and stared. “As a manager, you will never get respect, you can only earn respect. And you can only earn respect by bringing value to her problem solving and decision making. Can you bring value by issuing directives and orders?”

“Based on the response I am getting from her, obviously not,” Joan replied.

“Can you bring value to the relationship, value to her problem solving and decision making by asking questions?”

Joan tilted her head back. The tension in her face turned calm. “I can ask questions,” she repeated.

“Can you push her thinking by asking questions? Can you broaden the scope of her solutions? Can you bring in other perspectives by asking questions? Can you challenge her assumptions, bring in alternatives, anticipate contingencies, bottlenecks, all by asking questions?”

Joan smiled, and nodded. “I think I know what to do.”

Headed into Day Two with Karen King’s Vistage group in Albuquerque, NM on the research of Elliott Jaques.
__
“You have a tenuous relationship with your most valuable team member,” I stated flatly. “It is your job, as a manager, to bring value to that relationship.”

Joan nodded, but did not speak.

“It is your job, as a manager to bring value to her thinking and her work.” I stopped and changed direction. “What is work?” I asked.

“Well, for my team, it is contacting customers, following up on orders that fall through the cracks, talking about our products,” Joan floated.

“Those are things that you, as a manager, can see, things you can observe. But what is the work?”

I was fishing and Joan wasn’t taking the hook.

“You can watch and observe physical actions, but the work is more difficult to see. The work is making decisions and solving problems. How can you bring value to her decision making and problem solving?”

Greetings from Albuquerque, NM. I am here through Friday with Karen King, a Vistage Chair, working with her groups on the research of Elliott Jaques.
__
“It’s not industry experience,” Joan shook her head. ” I’ve been here only eight months, a newcomer to this industry. My problem team member has twelve years experience on me.”

“So, what was it the prompted the company to bring you in, as her manager?” I asked.

“I suppose they didn’t want to lose a valuable producer, moving her into management,” Joan guessed.

“Let me ask you, after twelve years, as a producer for this company, do you think there are any techniques she doesn’t know?”

Joan was looking for the trick in the question. “No, she knows the process cold, great relationships with our customers.”

“Then what value do you bring to her work?” I prodded. “Because that is why this company brought you in from the outside. And it is this value that will earn the respect.”

“Why did the company bring you in from the outside, instead of promoting a 12 year veteran?” I asked. “The two of you are about the same age. And she has more years of specific experience.”

Joan thought for a minute. “You are right. She has more experience, in doing the work, but I don’t think they brought me in to do more work.”

“So, why do you think they brought you into the company? What do you bring to the table, that is different? And what is so different about your role, that they would pass over someone on the inside?”

“I don’t know,” Joan shook her head. “And this was never discussed during the interview process. But it was definitely an intentional decision.”

“Easy to say, difficult to do. Bringing value,” I repeated.

“Not sure what you mean. I think it is a respect issue,” Joan replied. “You think I can gain respect by bringing value. What does that mean?”

“Look, you are new here. You have been with the company since November and her manager for only two months, she has been here for twelve years. She knows her job, what does she need you for? Why would she go to one of your silly meetings, anyway?”

“My meetings are not silly, they’re important,” she protested.

“The meetings are silly to her, until you prove otherwise. Even acknowledging you in the hallway is silly to her, until you prove otherwise, until you earn her respect.”

“But, I was hired in to be her manager, some respect should come with the territory. I know she wanted my job, but the company hired me instead.”