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Over the last few weeks I have received many excellent questions and comments from readers of the Leader Letter,
visitors to our web site, and people using my books and new application
guides. This month's Leader Letter draws from some of the most
instructive of that correspondence. I hope you find my responses and
suggestions live up to the core theme of all my work - Practical
Leadership.
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| Navigating the Slippery Slope of Accountability |
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I
am an administrator for a mid-sized professional services firm in a
division of employees under the direction of a director. The director
claims that his staff has been empowered to do their jobs. But nowhere
in the discussion is there ever any mention of accountability (which I
believe goes hand in hand with empowerment). I am not referring to the
finger pointing blame game. I am talking about those who fail to learn
their jobs/responsibilities after much personal training, coaching, and
handholding. As the firm's administrator, I believe that some key
people must be held responsible for their repeated mistakes. The
director, however, views anyone who points to an individual's inability
to retain the basic knowledge required to perform their job as "not a
team player".
In this situation, how can one ever address poor/weak performance without being labeled "not a team player"?
I am a frequent (online) reader of Practical Leadership and would welcome any suggestions you might have.
You're
describing a fairly complex situation that would take more analysis to
give you a firm recommendation. In our consulting work, we run into
lots of accountability problems. They always require thorough analysis
to get the roots of the issue. I will draw from some of that experience
and take a general stab at a few things that might be helpful:
- Accountability
is a slippery subject. Like leadership, excellence, or quality it has
many faucets and meanings for different people. From what you're
describing, it sounds very much like the most common accountability
issue; failing to follow through. Many teams are good at
planning and launching new initiatives. But it's the tiny (and higher
performing) minority that actually follow up with a regular discipline
to see what's working and what isn't. You may need to discuss with your
director how to build a robust and regular follow-up process.
- Accountability
has different meanings according to whether you're on the giving or
receiving end. Many of us have been lashed with the "accountability
whip" wielded by a clumsy manager who is into playing "gotcha games."
Follow up discussions need to focus on the situation, issue, or
behavior without judgment, harsh criticism, or putdowns. The purpose of
most follow up (like that of measurement) should be course correction
and learning. Too often it is the fault finding and the blame game. So
people avoid following up.
- If
people have failed to learn their jobs/responsibilities after much
personal training, coaching, and handholding, then action is clearly
needed. If you have the power to remove or reassign them, that may be
what's required. If you don't, you need to figure how to work around
these people because you know they will not keep their commitments. The
other option is to figure out how to increase your influence either
with them and/or their manager to get action.
- Your
question about being labeled as not a team player really requires
further digging and perhaps a difficult look in the leadership mirror.
Most friction in a relationship is caused by the wrong tone of voice.
We've all had the experience of resisting what others are trying to get
us to do not because of the idea itself, but because of the approach
used ("I am not against what he/she is trying to do. It's how he/she is
doing it that gets my back up"). You may need to get some objective
coaching or perspective from a third party who knows the situation (or
can analyze it for you – such as a coach or consulting firm) and can
give you good feedback. You could even look for a safe way for other
team members or the director to give you suggestions on what you should
keep doing, stop doing, and start doing to be a better team player.
Tools like "360 feedback surveys" and action planning can be helpful
here.
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| Pensions, Money, and Retaining Top People |
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Here's a message from a long time Leader Letter reader and my response. If you have a response to "John's" question, please e-mail it to me at [email protected].
Hi Jim,
I
was in a meeting yesterday where my boss and another senior manager
both said money is the main reason we lose people. I wanted to scream!
Our
company changed our benefit plan (4 years ago), from a defined benefit
(I can retire in a few years) to a defined contribution (we give people
a percentage to invest each year). Both of these gentleman thought that
because of the new plan - money is what will keep staff. They liked the
handcuffs of the old plan because people "have to stay" (I don't know
if they've seen all the reports about people "retired" on the job! And
we always lost many of our best in the past).
My question is - have you seen anything recently to look into the impact of defined benefit plans and employee retention?
My
thought is that defined contribution plans, means that I've got to
become an outstanding manager to hold great people. I firmly believe
that it's how I treat my staff that determines retention - not money.
Two years ago I used your quote below - as the lead in a letter on
employee retention.
"Now is the
time to prepare for our next harvest. We can't wait until harvest time
to plant the seeds. We can't strike a bargain to plant seeds once we
see whether the harvest is worth the effort. Harvest time will arrive
whether we're ready or not. Now is the time to plant the seeds for the
coming harvests."
"John"
John, you may want to pull out your copy of The Leader's Digest
and reread the extensive section on "Retaining Top People" on pages
121-124. I also responded to a reader's question about using money to
motivate people in the January 2004 issue of my Leader Letter. Go to http://www.clemmer.net/newsl/jan2004.html
and scroll down to "The Motivation Myth That Won't Go Away!" I hope you
find some material here that helps you with your boss! I will ask Leader Letter readers for answers to your question.
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Permission to Reprint: You may reprint any items from the Leader Letter in your own print publication or e-newsletter as long as you include this paragraph:
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"Reprinted with permission from the Leader Letter,
Jim Clemmer's free e-newsletter. For over 25 years Jim Clemmer's
practical leadership approaches have been inspiring action and
achieving results. His 2,000+ presentations and workshops/retreats,
five bestselling books, columns, and newsletters are helping hundreds
of thousands of managers worldwide because they are inspiring,
instructive, and refreshingly fun. And best of all, they work! His web
site is www.clemmer.net."
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Practically Using the New Leader's Digest: Practical Application Planner
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Hi Jim,
My
staff has thoroughly enjoyed working our way through the planner. With
vacations and budgets we're 3-4 weeks between meetings, but that's an
OK pace. We're rotating leadership of each meeting, taking about 90
minutes/chapter, I've seen more laughter in our meetings than any
others.
One item that has grown
is that the leader brings a "snack," simple bagels at the start, a fish
lover brought a selection of canned sardines and bagels (someone
thought he was kidding about sardines) advanced to a nice selection of
cheese and grapes at the last meeting. Personally it's been great for
me to go through, see my staff share ideas, personally learn new ideas,
talk about what we can do and get some honest feedback about where I
can improve.
Your November
newsletter was timely - Customer Focus as one of two major follow-up
points coming out of our last "Planner" meeting.
Cam Howey,
Manager, Primary Technology
Stelco
Hamilton, Ontario
For more information on The Leader's Digest: Practical Application Planner go to http://www.clemmer.net/books/tldpp.shtml.
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| On Losing Customer Focus |
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Hi Jim,
Just a quick note to say how excellent the November Leader Letter is; thanks very much.
It
never ceases to amaze me the ease with which customer focus can be
lost. Sometimes I play with "silly" ideas such as re-using the original
Pavlov's dogs experiment and conditioning everyone to 'stop and think
about the customer' each time a bell sounds.
Not
very practical I'm sure, but regular exposure to things like the 'joke'
you included this month do help achieve much the same result. I'll be
passing it on...
Best wishes
Sean Buckland,
Organisational development and change consultant, UK
Here is the "joke" Sean is referring to from last month's Leader Letter:
A woman walked up to the manager of a department store. "Are you hiring any help?" she asked.
"No," he said. "We already have all the staff we need."
"Then would you mind getting someone to wait on me?" she asked.
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| Through the Leadership Looking Glass |
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Over
the past two years The CLEMMER Group has been working closely with
Supply Chain Management (SCM) to help take their already
high-performing company even higher. SCM's organization improvement,
leadership development, and culture revitalization process is sharply
focused on taking the company to extraordinary performance levels,
fulfilling their mission, "To be simply the very best logistics
provider for Wal-Mart worldwide."
SCM
provides third party retail logistics for Wal-Mart Canada. Their
network includes over 3.5 million square feet of distribution space and
2,300 team members across Canada. The company handles millions of cases
of products per year within extremely tight tolerances of quality,
cost, and service levels that meet and exceed Wal-Mart's very high
standards. Business is growing by double digits each year. Operations
are highly mechanized and use the latest in technology and process
management.
A key element we've been
working together on around strengthening the company's culture has been
"The SCM Way." This is a set of core values and a cascading process
moving from senior and middle managers to team leaders and team
members. Following is a poem written by one of SCM's training
coordinators. I didn't totally "get it" until I realized that Faith
(the author) put it on a mirror in her office as a reminder to her in
modeling The SCM Way:
A leader I knew, I respected, and saw
That she cared about people, without or with flaw,
She smiled first thing, when you saw her at work
Which started your day, with Good Morning, her 'quirk'
When you shared all your problems, from work or from home
You could tell that she cared, and that you weren't alone,
I could see as a Leader, she asked what you thought
She took your suggestions and used them a lot,
She gave you the feedback you needed to hear
To grow as a person and learn not by fear,
An example she showed, was to help, and she knew
All the work she expected the others to do,
This Leader rewarded, with gifts from the heart
Motivation, appreciation, this was only a start,
The teams that she led, would remember her well
In their new role as leaders, her story, they'd tell,
So what do I look for, to be a good Leader?
I will look in the mirror, and be happy to meet her.
- Faith Van Riel, Training Coordinator, Supply Chain Management Canada, Cornwall, Ontario
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| Dealing with a Bad Boss |
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After reading an excerpt from The Leader's Digest in our web site library, a Leader Letter reader asked the question that follows this short description and link to the full excerpt.
Forward Looking Leaders Know When to Step Back
Leaders
know that is hard to see the bigger picture when you're inside the
frame. That's why they regularly step back to see themselves, their
team, or their organization through the eyes of others.
http://www.clemmer.net/excerpts/forward_looking.shtml
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I
really can relate to this article. Are there any tips/hints, or
references on how to deal with managers of this type? Where does one
start when faced with this situation?
I
am trying to deal upward with a more senior manager of this sort. I
love my job, my colleagues are great but if this continues I'm not sure
if I can continue to work in this environment. Need help!
"Joanne"
Hi "Joanne,"
I
wish I had a sure-fire formula for changing the boss! It's one of the
common questions I get during my leadership development workshops.
You have these choices:
- Do nothing and hope things get better.
- Work around your boss and try to avoid him/her as much as possible.
- Try
to have a discussion with him/her to provide feedback or wait for an
opportunity to link some feedback to what's keeping him or her awake at
night.
- Concentrate on his/her strengths and try to leverage those in some way while readjusting your expectations and focus on him/her.
- Move
on to another job if the other options don't seem viable, you've
sincerely tried them all, or they are just not worth the effort and
stress.
I'd
recommend you try and get other perspectives on this situation.
Ideally, you would have a relationship with a mentor at a more senior
level who knows you and this individual and can give you some neutral
advice. If you're conferring with a peer, be careful that it is someone
who is a Navigator and not a Victim (see the March 2004 Leader Letter for a short article on the Navigator-Survivor-Victim chart at http://www.clemmer.net/newsl/mar2004.html. The April issue continues a follow up discussion from some readers sparked by this chart.)
I hope there are some useful ideas here. Please let me know what you decide.
"Joanne" replied:
Thank you for the insight. I have tried some of these things but not all. There may be hope!
"Joanne"
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| Top Improvement Points from November |
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"I
have forwarded many articles to my co-workers because they cut right to
the point and provide a simple yet accurate picture of the requirements
of leadership, as well as what can happen when leadership fails."
- Karen Dropping, Director of Organizational Integrity, Hospice of Michigan
Of the short quotes with links to full articles that were e-mailed out as complimentary Improvement Points last month, the most popular with subscribers were:
Subscribe or view the archives by topic area here:
www.clemmer.net/improvement.shtml.
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| Rare Public Upcoming Workshops in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia |
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If
your organization has been striving to improve customer service levels
but not quite pulling it together, you may want to attend my two-day Leading a Customer-Centered Organization
workshop in Vancouver or Mississauga. I have distilled 20 years of
research, experiences, best practices, and leadership/personal
development into this intensive session. Check it out at www.clemmer.net/events/lcco/lcco.shtml.
Vancouver, BC - January 11-12, 2005
Mississauga, ON - February 7-8, 2005
Leadership
is clearly THE key to success. That's why it's such a popular topic.
But despite all the talk about leadership and change, many "change
fatigued" people are still struggling with how to strengthen their
leadership and how to help their team/organization successfully
navigate change. Join me in Calgary or Kitchener for two intensive days
at my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshop. Check it out at www.clemmer.net/events/lsc/lsc.shtml.
Calgary, AB - January 13-14, 2005
Kitchener, ON - May 31 - June 1, 2005
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| Feedback and Follow-Up |
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I am always delighted to hear from readers of the Leader Letter
with feedback, reflections, suggestions, or differing points of view. I
am also happy to explore customized, in-house adaptations of any of my
material for your team or organization, drop me an e-mail at [email protected].
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I hope to connect with you again next month!
Jim
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post or pass this newsletter on to colleagues, clients, or associates
you think might be interested. If you received this newsletter from
someone else, and would like to subscribe, click here: www.clemmer.net/subscribe.shtml Phone: (519) 748-1044 ~ Fax: (519) 748-5813 ~ E-mail: [email protected]
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| Copyright 2004, Jim Clemmer, The CLEMMER Group |
