Category Archives: Accountability

More Control or Less

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“It is very difficult to cede my power as a CEO,” Suzanne shook her head from side to side. “It’s my company, my accountability.”

“You are still accountable. All crumbs lead to the CEO,” I said. “And, what changes when you see your company, not as a hierarchy of power, but, a hierarchy of competence?”

“First of all, I cannot promote people into positions because of their seniority, their loyalty or their current position of power,” she was thinking out loud, knowing I was listening.

“Promote people to a position of what?” I asked.

“A position of authority,” Suzanne replied.

“Authority to do what?” I pressed.

“Authority to make decisions,” she relented.

“Now, we are getting somewhere,” I smiled. “You begin to see your organization through the lens of competence. You cannot promote someone to a position of authority, to make decisions, unless they are competent to make those decisions. If they are competent to make those decisions, are you, as the CEO in more control or less control?”

Guiding Value in Hierarchy

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“But, if I delegate things out to other people, meaning, if I delegate decision making to other people, doesn’t that erode my power, as the CEO?” Suzanne wanted to know.

“If power is that important to you?” I replied.

“Isn’t that why I started this company, built it up from scratch? I am the one who made all the decisions. I am the one who had all the accountability,” she protested.

“And, you still have all the accountability. In the beginning, it was appropriate for you to make all the decisions, there was nobody else around. And, as the number of customers grew from a handful, to a dozen, to a hundred, they demanded your organization grow to accommodate their needs. As your organization grew, through necessity, you had to delegate, first tasks, then decisions. To the point where you now feel a loss of control.”

“And, a loss of power,” Suzanne quickly added.

“And, there is the rub. You see your organization as a hierarchy of power. Don’t kid yourself, the world is biologically ordered into a hierarchy of value. You see the value in your hierarchy as one of power. A power hierarchy begins to weaken the purpose of the organization’s original intent. This is a very serious shift, to understand your organization, not as a power hierarchy, but a hierarchy of competence. And, when you see it that way, what changes?”

The Illusion of Control

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I walked by Suzanne’s office. “Why the long face?” I said.

“Ya know,” she replied, “I thought being CEO would get easier as time went by.”

“And?” I asked.

“But, it’s not. At first, it was great. I was the grand Poo-Bah. Everyone deferred to me. I could snap my fingers and a dozen people jumped. If something went wrong, I could always find someone to blame it on. Dominion over everything. Power over…”

“Go on,” I prompted.

“That was when we were small. The power had an addictive quality. Then we got bigger, things became more structured. Power gave me control, but now I think I am losing both power and control.” Suzanne got quiet.

“Nothing like a little power and the illusion of control,” I smiled.

“Easy for you to say,” she sneered. “I just don’t have the bandwidth to clamp down harder, to get things back in control.”

“Suzanne, what happens to the speed of decision making if all decisions have to go through the CEO?”

She thought, then nodded. “Slows down.”

“Or stops,” I added. “And what happens to the speed of problem solving if all problems have to be solved by the CEO?”

Suzanne picked up the pattern. “Slows down or stops.”

“And what happens to control when decision making slows down? Better or worse?”

She just nodded, pursing her lips.

“It’s counterintuitive,” I said. “The more you clamp down, the less control you have. We misunderstand this concept called delegation. We think delegation is to get some menial tasks off our plate. What we need to delegate are not tasks. What we need to delegate is decision making and problem solving. Only then will we be in greater control.”

Reality Check

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“We started this discussion because I signed off on a project that my team leader believes cannot be done,” Ryker explained. “We identified that, as a manager, I had some self doubt, that perhaps the ringleader might be right.”

I nodded.

“We determined that I had to deal with my own self doubt before I face the team leader,” Ryker continued. “We determined that only after I dealt with my own demons, could I make headway with the team.”

I nodded again. “And, to make headway with the team, what do you have to pay attention to?”

“I think I have to pay attention to the demons each team member has, including the demons the team leader has,” Ryker replied. “I think we have to have a reality check.”

I smiled. “We talked about awareness, we talked about preparation. You have added reality checking.
Reality checking is valuable, especially in the midst of doubt. But, people don’t like to reality check under pressure. So, when do you want to do this reality checking? Before the project gets started?  In the middle of the project when you are already behind schedule?  Or at the end of the project when you have missed the deadline?”

“I think we have to slay the dragon of self doubt first, before the project gets started,” Ryker said. “I know it will take some time, but if we tackle the project with the mindset of self doubt, we will struggle with the obstacles inside the project.”

“Sometimes we have to go slow, so later we can go fast.”

Which Dog Do You Feed?

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“I have a dog that thinks, as a manager, that I am an imposter. And, I have a dog that believes I am NOT an imposter. I know which dog to feed. What do I feed the dog?” Ryker wanted to know.

“Attention,” I replied. “It’s not the food, it is the act of feeding. You get what you pay attention to.”

“Okay,” Ryker said. “But, I am still stumped.”

“Make a list. What does a manager do?” I asked. “A manager who is not an imposter?”

“You said awareness, that’s one,” Ryker had a start. “We have talked about preparedness. I have to prepare.”

“Prepare for what?”

“I have to prepare for anything, because I don’t know what obstacles there are,” Ryker concluded.

“And, how do you find the obstacles that are there?”

“I find them. I look for them. I aggressively go out in search of them, instead of waiting for them to appear.”

“And, why do you do that?” I smiled.

“Because I am not an imposter,” Ryker smiled back.

Beating the Status Quo

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“Are you saying that my internal thinking, my doubts as a leader, seeing myself as an imposter, IF I can deal with all of that, the problems in the project will be easier?” Ryker was curious.

“No, the problems in the project will still be difficult,” I replied. “But, if you have doubts in yourself, the problems in the project may be impossible. Slay the imposter first.”

“Slaying the imposter sounds easy and impossible at the same time. Do I just ignore the imposter, pretend it doesn’t exist?” Ryker asked.

“The first step is awareness,” I nodded. “And you are aware. Your stomach relays the message loud and clear. Your stomach wants to win. It tells you to just go with the flow. You have been drifting along in life allowing your stomach to make the tough decisions, mostly to stick with the status quo, do not tackle anything difficult. It wants to lull you back into familiar patterns where there is no conflict.”

“But, the conflict is still there,” Ryker reminded me.

“Yes,” I continued to nod. “Which will win. It’s like two dogs in a fight. Which will win?”

Ryker knew this story. “The dog that wins is the dog I feed.”

Comfort Zone

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“But, the ringleader of the team doesn’t believe in the project. As long as that is what she believes, the project is doomed,” Ryker explained.

“What are your alternatives?” I asked. “And, I am looking for more than one.”

Ryker thought a bit. “I could try to change what she believes. That’s one. I could try to change her influence over the team, find a new ringleader. Or, it might just be easier to resign the project, let it go.”

I nodded. “Yes, it would be easier to abandon the project, stay in your comfort zone.”

Ryker pursed his lips. Seconds ticked by. “Nope, not going to abandon.”

“Okay, then,” I stared at Ryker. “Then, tell me what you are going to do.”

Difficult Work

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“It looks like you have a fly in the ointment,” I said.

“You got that right,” Ryker replied. “We have a difficult project ahead, and one of the ringleaders on the team says it can’t be done.”

“How so?” I wanted to know.

“She has reasons that sound plausible. The work is too difficult, it will take longer than the deadline and the client is too difficult to work with,” he shook his head.

“I believe she is right,” I responded. “For her, the work is too difficult, she is not organized enough to meet the deadline and she doesn’t believe in the outcome the way your client believes. It can’t be done, by her.”

“But, I signed on to the project, because I believe it can be done,” Ryker stopped, then started again. “The work is difficult, we may have to learn some new methods. The deadline is tight, we might have to spend time to organize a solid plan. But more than that, I believe, like the client, that it can be done.”

“So, what is the difference between you and the team’s ringleader?” I asked.

“It’s obvious,” he shook his head. “I believe and she doesn’t. It’s a mental state.”

“But, mental state is not enough. To be successful in this project, you are going to have to learn some new methods and be organized. Not enough to think positive, you have to prepare. But, you won’t prepare unless you believe the project can be done.”

Positive Attitude is Not Enough

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I’ve been watching a lot of hockey lately. Disclosure, I am rooting for the Florida Panthers. I noticed a commercial pitting the heart and determination of any hypothetical hockey team approaching a game with its opponent. The message was that every player on both teams had the same dreams, the same exhilaration, the same passion to win. The commercial ends with a cliffhanger encouraging you to watch the game.

The commercial admits that we often think the team with the most heart will win, that positivity will triumph. I assume most people wake up every day with the full intention to do their best. There will still be winners and losers. Mental determination is not enough. It is competence that determines the difference. Competence is the combination of capability and technical knowledge, coupled with practiced performance. That will determine who wins the Stanley Cup.

Prepare for Intensity

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“These are three problems I see with the plan,” Stephan shared.

“Problems with the plan, or obstacles to face in the plan?” I asked.

“Obstacles, three big obstacles that will be tough to overcome,” he nodded. “But we have a mitigation strategy to work over, around or through, so I think we are under control.”

“What about the obstacles that are not part of your plan?” I pressed.

“I am sure there will be some hiccups,” Stephan agreed. “Something will happen that we don’t anticipate, something that we can’t prepare for.”

“Can’t prepare, or won’t prepare?” I replied.

“If we don’t know what it is, how can we prepare for it?” he wanted to know.

“We can mentally prepare, prepare for an increased pace, a practiced quality triage, improvisation of method. We may not know the real obstacles that lay ahead, but we can prepare with mental fitness.  Because, yes, there will be unanticipated problems.”