Category Archives: Leadership

Simple Questions

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“Now I have a team,” Melanie lamented.

“You seem off-balance,” I replied.

“It’s my first team. I’m the manager now,” she took a deep breath. “I woke up this morning and my relationship with the team changed. I don’t know what they want or need from me. I had a dream last night that they all quit and I was left alone.”

“Team members have three simple questions,” I replied. “If you answer these, there is a high liklihood that your team will not abandon you.”

  • What is expected of me?
  • How am I doing?
  • Who do I go to for help?

“The third question is the key,” I said. “On any team, that’s how I identify the manager. Who do they go to for help? That person helps them answer the first two questions. It is a question of WHO?”

Melanie repeated the questions. “Who helps me set expectations in my role, to which I agree? Who helps me understand how I am doing? Who do I go to for help?”

“Take your team one by one,” I nodded. “Help them answer those questions. Not easy, but simple.”

By Virtue of Contract

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“You have been quite clear, that it is the manager accountable for the output of the team, so, does the team member have no culpability for the work?” I asked.

“Of course they do,” Pablo countered. “By virtue of a contract, a very simple employment contract, each team member is expected to show up for work each and every day, bringing the full application of their capability, in short, to do their best.”

“Sounds simplistic, if not idealistic,” I snorted.

“Indeed simple, AND not idealistic,” Pablo replied. “It is not a matter of idealism, it is a matter of contract. And, as a matter of contract, the manager must assume each team member is doing their best.”

“But, assuming the team member is doing their best does NOT make it so.” I pushed back.

“Why, do you think it is hard?” Pablo asked, not giving me time to respond. “It is not difficult for team members to continually do their best. It is only when our people systems are dysfunctional, people find it difficult. Unless we, as managers, prevent it, people will engage, with full commitment to do their best, in fact, will find deep life satisfaction in doing so.”

It’s What People Believe

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“People have a fair, intuitive sense of their own capability,” Pablo said. “And, they yearn for opportunity to exercise their full potential. To do otherwise causes people to wilt. A great deal of a person’s self-esteem, even identity, comes from the value they see in the work that they do.”

“So, the system in which they work has impact on how they behave?” I floated.

“It’s not just the system, it’s what people believe about the system. What we believe, our assumptions, the way we see the world is what drives our behavior. Look, the real question is, if we believe that people want to fully participate at their highest level of capability, spread their wings toward independence, that they do not need a carrot and stick to get on with their work, then what kind of managerial system would we create?”

“This sounds a bit idealistic, don’t you think?” I countered.

“Not at all,” Pablo replied. “This is about hard nosed work. Making decisions and solving problems, tough decisions and difficult problems.”

What Does It Mean?

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“So, when I try to get my team to understand what I mean, I have to look inside, at myself first?” Renata asked.

I nodded. “And making meaning is a bit of sticky wicket,” I replied, using my best croquet analogy.

“How so?”

“When we look inside to figure out what we mean, we are simply asking questions to help us interpret people, things, events, conversations,” I said. “Interpretation helps us understand the meaning. It’s not what the facts are, it’s the way we interpret the facts. And, then you have to ask the question, in relation to what?”

“Explain.”

“For a leader, at any level, it has a great deal to do with the objectives, goals or mission. How do we interpret these facts in relationship to our goals or our mission? That gives us insight into what it means.”

Conversations With Yourself

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“I am trying to figure out how to make my case to the team about our new process,” Renata nodded her head.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Sometimes, the way I say things gets the wrong reaction,” she replied. “I think I mean to say one thing, but they think I mean something else. I need to know better how to talk to them.”

“How are you talking to yourself?” I wanted to know.

“My turn to ask what do you mean?” she chuckled.

“How you talk to yourself, your inner private conversations indicate how you lead yourself. And, how you lead yourself will determine how you lead others. Most conversations are with yourself, often it just happens that other people are in the room.”
—
Homage to Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations

It’s a Great Book

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“I have been reading this book,” Hanna said, a bit frustrated. “It’s called Nine Principles, but I am having difficulty applying it to my executive team.”

“And, that’s a surprise?” I asked. “Is the author of the book in a leadership role?”

“Yes, he runs a very large company,” she replied. “In the same industry as us. That’s why I bought the book.”

“I see,” I said. “Tell me, do you think you are similar enough to the author and the author’s company and circumstances are similar enough to yours, that if you just copied the Nine Principles, you would get the same results?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Hanna said with hope in her voice.

“The pattern for a great leader is rarely the pattern for another,” I said. “Usually when patterns are similar, it is simply a recipe for mediocrity. Mediocre leaders copy mediocre leaders and so the spiral goes. Tell me what is different about your circumstances. Tell me what is different about your team. Tell me what is different about you. That’s the book you should read.”

The Follower

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“I want to become a better leader,” Lawrence announced.

“Try becoming a better follower,” I suggested.

“I said Leader, not Follower,” he clarified.

“I heard you correctly. Become a better follower.”

“Follower of what? If I am a follower, who is the leader?” he pressed.

“This is not a chicken and egg game,” I said. “Every organization has its strategic intent. That is what you follow. You become a better leader by being a better follower of strategic intent. Your strength as a leader does not come from your position, but from your competence supporting strategic intent. An organization’s hierarchy does not come from position or power. Its strength comes from a hierarchy of competence.”

A Dollar More

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“Why do people work?” I asked.

It was an innocent question, but Shari knew I had an agenda. “Okay. I’ll bite,” she replied. “I was going to say they work for the money, but I know you too well.”

I laughed. “You are correct. People work because they need the money. But, if that is all they work for, then you will be hard pressed to keep them when a competitor comes knocking on their door, and offers a dollar more.”

Shari stared at me with a half smile.

“Would it surprise you,” I continued, “to find out that people need to work, more than they need the money? Don’t get me wrong, they need the money. But, they also need the work. To lead a happy, fulfilled life, people need to work, to make a contribution to a group which they hold in high regard. And, it takes somewhere between 35-40 hours per week to create that internal feeling of significance. If you can create a safe place, where they can do their best work, and that work is valued by their most important group, now you get the beginnings of engagement.”

Omission

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“What are the problems you create?” I asked.

“The problems I have, or the problems I create?” Paula stepped back. “I mean, I have problems, but I don’t try to create problems.”

“But, if you did create problems, what would they be?” I pressed.

Paula paused, searching. “I guess, it would be a problem of omission. It’s not that I did something that created a problem, more like something I didn’t do.”

“Example?”

“As the CEO, I notice things that others don’t notice,” she started. “A detail that got skipped, a hasty decision based solely on gut response, escalation of an emotion that makes things worse. I notice things like that.”

“And?”

“Sometimes, I let them go, hoping they will self-correct.”

“And, do they self correct?” I wanted to know.

Paula pursed her lips. “Actually, no. I mean sometimes by a quirk of fate, but mostly no.”

“Then, what happens?”

“Eventually, the problem gets bigger. Maybe the first time was with a small customer that didn’t notice. But, then, it’s a big customer who immediately sees the problem. It’s something I could have stopped in the beginning, but didn’t. Now, it’s a big problem. I could blame it on the team member, but I am the one who caused the problem, because I saw it and did nothing.”

Honor for the Game

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“Gentlemen, today is the day we play for the national championship. Today, I want to talk about honor. Honor for the University, honor for each player in this room and honor for the game.

“The university’s role is to be a part of a larger institution that collects intercollegiate athletes like yourself to play the game. We provide the uniforms, the playing field, the referees. It is our honor to create this space for you to play the game.

“And, also to honor you. It is your honor to wear the uniform, not to only to represent the university, but to represent yourself. Honor for yourself. This team did not arrive on this field today because we were good at trick plays. This team arrived here because of its discipline to fundamentals. You catch the ball because you are a half step faster than the defender. You run through a short gap because the linemen hold their blocks a half second longer. You do not get penalized because you are disciplined to focus.

“Finally, to honor the game. For some of you, this will be the last organized game you will play. And, you will remember this day for its joy that allowed you to play. It’s a game that required practice, individually and drills as a team. Mastery in synchronized movement. It is the game that collected these two teams today. The other team traveled the same journey to get here. They are meeting together, just like we are meeting together, huddled in a spirit to honor the game.”