Just a Cover-up

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“What do you mean, cripple my team?” Lydia protested. “I mean, I agree that I shouldn’t force my decision on the group. I need to get buy-in. But cripple my team?”

“No, in this case, buy-in is just a cover-up. This is a team decision with team responsibility and consequences for the team no matter which way they choose. As the leader, if you make this decision for the team, they are no longer responsible and the consequences are no longer theirs. Even with buy-in, when the team suffers the consequences from your decision, you will be to blame. They will take you to the mat.”

Lydia was silent.

“And your team will gain more experience and momentum in avoiding responsibility than stepping up to the plate. As the leader, you will cripple your team.”

Forcing the Issue

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“I cannot believe the way people are responding to this situation,” Lydia explained. “They know the right thing to do, but they are all wimps, now that they have to stand up for it.”

“What is your position?” I asked.

“To do the right thing. I laid out the steps we need to take, who we need to contact and how we need to present the facts. I know it’s unpopular, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“How are you going to persuade the team to take the right action?”

“I’m the leader, so I could just force the issue, take the steps on my own,” she replied.

“And what kind of leadership is that?”

Lydia thought, grinned, then slowly nodded. “That would be tyrannical leadership, I suppose.”

“And if you are a tyrant and force it, then you let the team off the hook. They are no longer responsible for taking action. You cripple them from being responsible in the future.”

At Every Level of Work

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The biggest problem in performance management, for most companies, is focusing on the work. Many managers focus on personality characteristics or communication breakdowns thinking if someone has the right information and the right personality, performance management is a no brainer. What is missing is an understanding of the work. What is the work?

Work is not completing a task. Work is the decision making and problem solving related to the task. The most important conversation between every manager and team member is, “In completing this task, what decisions do you have to make and what problems do you have to solve?”

And, there is appropriate decision making and appropriate problem solving at every level of work.

It’s Different Work

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Reggie was not defensive, but he was certainly pushing back. “It’s something I like to do,” he said. “Besides, it’s a half hour out of my day. Not something I want to delegate to someone else.”

“Are you saying, it’s something that gives meaning and purpose to your life?” I asked.

“Updating the WIP logs?” he chuckled. “I get the paperwork (electronic paperwork) in from the field. I know it is a bit clerical, but when I enter the data into the logs, I don’t know, it makes me feel good. Like I am really getting something done. Like marking things off on a checklist.”

“You are very results oriented, that’s why you were promoted to manager,” I replied. “You like to kick things off, get people moving, get things done, mark things in the WIP logs, you love to watch results, makes you feel connected to the work. You get endorphin juice.”

Reggie nodded. “You’re right. When I get the logs updated, I feel like I am in control, that the world is right. I do get a little juice out of the task.”

“Your work is different now. As a manager, your juice comes through other people, and it’s slower. It’s painful, to watch other people struggle through things that are easy for you. Your role now is to help other people feel in control, by getting them to mark progress, coaching them to the end of the project. If you continue to be intimately involved, you prevent your team from learning the details. You disable the team from organizing their work. They need your help, support and guidance, but they don’t need you to do it for them.”

Digging Deeper

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I was on Henrik’s wheel. We had eight miles to go with 43 miles behind us. I was thinking, as long as Henrik kept this pace, I could hang on. If he went faster, I was toast. One thing was certain. I could not handle another shift on the front. My legs were rubber.

Henrik pulled to the left, sat up and looked over. No way, I said to myself. I can’t. Henrik just stared at me. I stood on my pedals and dug in, pulling ahead. Henrik fell in behind allowing me to block the wind for the next stretch of road.

Sometimes I ride by myself, but I never get the workout, I never get the push unless I ride with someone else. Left to our own devices, we coast when it’s convenient, dog the hill with some justification about the heat or the wind.

Push me and I will go faster, challenge me and I will find that bit of energy left that I did not know I had.

Everyone needs a coach.
—–
TDF ends on Sunday.

Not About the Pizza

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“Your observation was that your production team seemed disconnected,” I said. “In spite of your pep talks, they shuffle.”

Suzette nodded. “I thought it was me, that I wasn’t doing a good job of motivating the team.”

“Motivation, engagement, is not about pep talks,” I smiled. “Motivation is not about pizza, or bonuses. Motivation is knowing that what I do is part of something bigger. It’s knowing where I fit in a larger picture. Don’t talk about it. Show the team, so they can see it.”

All Together Now

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“I am not sure how I can show the impact of our product on the customer?” Suzette continued to protest. “The production team is on the factory floor.”

“Two choices,” I replied. “Bring the factory floor to the customer or bring the customer to the factory floor.”

Suzette was quiet. Thinking.

“Our best customers have never seen our factory. All they know is what the sales team tells them. Are you suggesting that I invite a customer to visit the factory?”

I nodded. “Oh, not just one customer and not just once. What would be the impact on the team to bring them together? And what would be the impact on the customer?”

The Pep Talk

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“Don’t they see it?” Suzette complained.  “We make a really great product for our customers.  Our customers are thankful, give us positive testimonials. As the manager, I get a strong sense of the impact of what we do. But the production team seems bored, just going through the motions. Two quit only last week. I try to give them pep talks in our team huddle every morning, but they break the huddle and shuffle back to their work station.”

“You have your answer,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” she drew back.

“Your question. You asked a question. ‘Don’t they see it?’ Obviously, they don’t.” I chuckled.

“Well, of course they don’t see it,” Suzette was emphatic. “I was talking about my pep talk. How can I change my pep talk?”

“You could drop it,” I suggested. “Drop the pep talk. What you say has no impact. It’s what they see. How can you show them?”

Excuses and Reasons

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“When you evaluate his effectiveness, given his resources and his challenges, how does he stack up?” I asked.

Audrey was quick to reply. “No way. That’s the problem. We have a results based performance review system. He is obviously not getting the results we want, but there is always something, some circumstance that prevents him or his team from delivering the goal. And that something, that circumstance always seems to make sense.”

“You mean the excuse that gets him off the hook is the excuse that you believe.”

Worldwide Conspiracy

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“We call him, teflon,” Audrey said. “Nothing sticks. Things go wrong in his department all the time, but he always has an explanation why one thing or another caused the problem. Always something out of his control. Not his fault.”

“Has he ever taken responsibility for any problem in his area?” I asked.

“No, he has never had to. You would think there is a worldwide conspiracy out to get him and foil all his plans. Even when I don’t buy his excuse, he has a backup excuse to replace it. Do you think he is just unlucky?”

“Audrey, sometimes the explanation for the problem tells you more about the explainer than it does about the problem.”