Even Joe the Pipefitter must look askance at some of the moves made in corporate America when faced with a string of bad news.
Mistake #1: Become Reactive and Reactionary.
There is truth in the old saying “Respond in haste. Regret in
sorrow.” This is also known as the “ready, fire, aim” approach of
leadership. When leaders fail to gather the information and critically
assess the long-term impact of decisions, severe errors are made.
Consider the Big Three auto executives who knee-jerked their way on
private planes to ask for a handout without ever having a plan. Now
that’s a bonehead mistake.
First, stop any action and breathe. Think long-term strategy. Be
cautious. Be proactive. Test out the decisions by saying, “If this… then
this…” so you can try it on for size.
Stop any action and breathe. Think long-term strategy. Be cautious. Be proactive.
Mistake #2: Huddle With Only the Corporate Folks.
First, answers are often found at the floor level, not at the
ceiling. Involve everyone in the search for efficiencies and
innovations. Engage everyone in a common vision and mission. Besides, if
managers tell employees what to do, you’ve taken away all sense of
responsibility and ownership. How refreshing to have the a manager
posting discussions on the web and seeking input from a variety of
people with differing viewpoints. Building transparency goes a long way for building trust and making us all feel we are part of the solution.
Mistake #3: Cut. Cut. Cut. Again.
No one EVER downsized their way to greatness. Wholesale terminating
of employees without thinking about the cost of underserved customers
and too much work done by too few people or canceling the meeting
without realizing that this is the time to gather and to candidly talk
are just two examples of cuts that could have been done with a scalpel
instead of a hacksaw. Substitute Jello for Jamoca Fudge and Two Buck
Chuck for Dom Perignon but bring people together. As for layoffs, if
your organization or department can handle this—bring everyone together
and spread out the facts. One very smart leader found that employees
were willing to reduce work schedules, work half-time, and job share
rather than have members of their team terminated. For more ideas, read Leaders Open Doors by Bill Treasurer.
Mistake #4: Go After New Clients And Customers.
Unless your customers have vanished because of poor quality or
service, these can be your best source of new revenue. Ask how you can
turn them into champions of what you provide. Make them feel special and
valuable. I’ve noticed that my bank is now making every effort to thank
me for my business, to call me by name, to answer any request with a
“no problem” attitude. Sure they should have been doing that all along
but—better late than never. Besides, they’ve already got all my money in
the safe. I think they’d like to keep it.
Mistake #5: Do More With Less.
We’ve been hearing this for years. In my consulting practice, I have
often found that much of the “more” is work that provides no value at
the end of the day. Scrutinize every process; get rid of the sacred cows
and the egos. Translate every action into a dollar value. In one
organization, we found that senior executives were tripping over each
other to put their two cents into every PowerPoint presentation that was
made. It was a waste of executive talent, made each project longer than
necessary, disempowered the employee creating the presentation, and
actually used up some $15,000 worth of senior management time!
We have here is an opportunity to really consider what is
most important, to spend time at work that is meaningful, and to
nurture relationships that matter.
BONUS Mistake: Buy Into Pessimism.
It’s a huge mistake we ALL make when we let the news of the day finds
us hiding under the covers, chopping up the furniture for kindling and
searching for recipes made with bread and water. What we have here is
an opportunity to really consider what is most important, to spend time
at work that is meaningful, and to nurture relationships that matter. We
have an opportunity to reclaim our reputation, our integrity, and our
future. Not to do this would be our biggest mistake.
We live in a world where trust in political and corporate leadership in America is still hovering near all-time lows. Of course, much of this lack of trust is easy to explain.
The gridlock in Congress, along with the less-than-stellar role Wall
Street and our financial institutions played in the last recession have
created doubt about the strength of our country’s leadership
institutions. In addition, the media likes to revel in bad news like
pigs in dirt.
When viewed holistically, you can see how we live in a world that has
many viewing the glass as half empty and wondering not whether, but
when, the other shoe will drop.
Having worked with dozens of organizations over the past 15 years,
though, I believe most leaders have integrity are trying to do right,
while also doing well. But without question, leading is difficult. I
have found that what hinders leaders’ efforts is not intent, but lack of
awareness of the key issues or lack of skill to lead well.
I have found that what hinders leaders’ efforts is not
intent, but lack of awareness of the key issues or lack of skill to lead
well
The America’s Workforce survey
delivered some meaningful insights on areas leaders can focus on to
build leadership credibility and lead more effectively. After all, we
can keep talking about what is not right or we can focus on what we know
we can do to make a difference.
The survey results suggest that top leaders do three things effectively in successful organizations.
1. Understand what winning looks like
In the survey, 40% of employees admitted that they don’t fully
understand their company’s vision. Some haven’t been exposed to it at
all. The same percentage felt their managers don’t understand the
company’s strategy or goals.
So the first thing a good leader needs to do is to make sure the
people in the organization understand what winning looks like by
meaningfully connecting people to the vision. Have you ever worked on a
puzzle without seeing the box top? Or think of playing in a game without
being told how you actually win. It is difficult, de-motivating and not
a whole lot of fun.
People in the organization need to understand what winning looks like
A good leader tells the story of the business, looks for avenues to
have organizational conversations, invests in managers so they
understand how to translate the strategy for their people, and ensures
that everyone recognizes how they contribute to winning.
2. Lead with authenticity
The second focus for good leaders is to make sure their authority
comes not just from the position, but from a sense of trust,
authenticity, and stewardship for the organization.
49% of the workers surveyed felt that their leaders are genuine or
authentic only sometimes, if not less often. It’s very difficult to be
at your best if you are not sure you can fully trust the intentions of
your leadership. This is one reason so many employees play it safe. In
fact, 67% of the workforce in the survey could name at least one thing
that would prevent them from taking any kind of risk at work.
It’s very difficult to be at your best if you are not sure you can fully trust the intentions of your leadership
The number one item that stops them from taking any risk – you
guessed it – is not having enough support from their supervisor. It’s
not enough to have a workforce ready to contribute if they are also
nervous that if they jump in and take risks, no one will back them up.
Great leaders are often publicly vulnerable. It is perfectly ok not
to have all the answers, but to seek a better way with the team rather
than just tell them. It is also important to openly discuss your
expectations and your concerns and to define where risk taking is ok and
where it isn’t.
I have observed that those conversations do not occur in most
situations, and therefore leaders aren’t fully understood, employees
don’t take risks, and performance is not great.
3. Create ownership and enable collaboration
Another challenge for leaders is how to best connect the dots of
activities across an organization. In the survey, 69% of workers felt
they were at least somewhat accountable for the success of their team.
When asked about working with other teams, however, only 30% said that
each individual’s responsibilities were clear.
Between managing up, down, or across different departments, 43% of
workers called out managing across as the hardest to do. From a
leadership standpoint, you need to consider effective goal alignment
across teams. You also should encourage conversations that connect the
dots between teams and align them to the larger picture of winning for
the organization, rather than their specific team-based priorities.
From a leadership standpoint, you need to consider effective goal alignment across teams
The goal is to ensure everyone feels responsible for the whole as much as they own their piece.
So there is significant skepticism among America’s workforce, but
great leaders are overcoming and setting examples for how to conquer the
most pressing concerns. These leaders are able to paint a picture of
what winning looks like that everyone can connect to. They understand
the role of vulnerability and authenticity in gaining trust, and they
focus on breaking down barriers to enable better cross-functional
collaboration.
Understand the role of vulnerability and authenticity in gaining trust
This is how effective leaders can be best in class when it comes to
creating better, more successful and more trusted organizations.
Rich Berens
Rich
Berens is president and Chief Client Fanatic of Root Inc. For over a
decade, Rich has helped leaders at Fortune 1000 organizations to align
on key strategic imperatives and engage their people in bringing their
strategies to life. His clients span all industries and include PETCO,
Bank of America, Hilton Hotels, Procter & Gamble, Deutsche Bank, and
Merillat/Masco, among many others. Rich is a noted speaker on the
issues of strategy and change and has authored articles for Chief
Learning Officer magazine.
Rich joined Root in 1997 after completing his MBA at the University of
Michigan. He worked for Commerzbank in Germany and has lived abroad,
both in Germany and Nigeria. He holds a BA/BS degree from the
University of Washington in St. Louis. Rich lives in Ann Arbor with his
family, and treasures time with his wife, Anne, and daughters, Katarina
and Mia.
