The Importance of Deadlines
Our lives are about getting things done – either by ourselves or (as leaders) through others.
One of the aspects of leadership and task management that receives less attention than it deserves is setting deadlines. We’ve probably heard the phrase “they want it done yesterday!” meaning that (senior management - or whoever) want something done as soon as possible.
Not setting deadlines has a significant impact on how people prioritise. If the deadline’s close, they’ll put it at the top of their list. The human mind naturally focuses on tasks with deadlines versus tasks without. As a result, they prioritise what’s “urgent” but not always “important”. This phenomenon has been well documented in what’s known as the Eisenhower Matrix which provides a graphic representation of the differences on how we should handle tasks that are:
- “Urgent and important”
- “Urgent but not important”
- “Important but not urgent”
- “Neither urgent nor important”
We tend to focus on the “urgent” tasks, whether they’re “important” or not at the expense of the “important but not (yet) urgent” tasks.
Setting deadlines is vital to all our activities as leaders. Some leaders are excellent at giving deadlines for every task delegated (and sometimes the deadline is even realistic!). Others, however, just describe the task but not when they need it done. A week later they come back asking “why haven’t you done it?” Or “is it ready yet?” Of course, the person to whom the task was delegated may well answer in the negative as they didn’t realise that that task needed to be completed within (say) a week.
Another practice I came across when delegating tasks was for a leader to say, “unless I say otherwise, I want things done within a week.” Giving this kind of guidance saves time on both sides.
Equally, we as team members need to get into the habit of asking “what’s the deadline?” if none is specified (and if our leader tends not to set deadlines).
My (unspoken) guideline for responses to emails that I send is latest seven days of the date of that email (unless I specify otherwise). I diarise to chase after a week, so that the recipient knows I’ll be keeping an eye on them. Is this fair? Perhaps not, but it does work for me and means that I stay “on top” of things.
A common email fault is people prefacing emails with “urgent” (often in capitals followed by two exclamation marks!!) The problem is that if this is their habit, recipients will realise very quickly that most messages from that person aren’t “urgent’ and won’t prioritise them in as such.
Setting expectations in terms of deadlines as a leader is critical to the smooth functioning of our team. New team members should be told that we expect them to respond to a delegated task within (say) one week unless specified otherwise. We should also be explaining to them that, if they run into problems, they should let us know so that we can arrange support.
Another issuing encountered was a team member’s perception that everyone else’s deadlines weren’t important (let alone urgent). It wasn’t until I explained that often, when I set them a deadline, it was so that information could be gathered to pass onto another senior manager who had to consolidate that information with other information before submitting it to a more senior manager within that senior manager’s deadlines. This resulted in a “lightbulb moment” for that colleague who’d clearly never considered this. Once they knew how to distinguish things that might be urgent and what their potential remedy was, they were able to plan their day as well.
I explained that if this person felt that the deadline was unrealistic, they should say so and explain why to allow us to ask for an extension if possible (or at the very least explain why meeting the deadline might result in substandard information being supplied).
Like “urgent” emails, this only works if it’s applied sparingly. If it becomes a habit, you’ll only gain a reputation of being disorganised, incapable, a poor planner, bad at prioritising or whatever people care to describe you as.
(Interestingly, I’ve observed that human beings also tend to meet deadlines which are important to them, aside from those that are perceived as urgent and imposed by others.)
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email.
Labels: Career, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
If Only…
I had a memorable episode which showed me the importance of “covering all the bases".
For some time, I’ve been looking for one of those adjustable desks that moves up and down at the touch of a button. I don’t like to bend over a computer if I only have a quick bit of work to do but equally if I have a lot, then I prefer to sit at a desk.
I finally found my “dream desk” in one of our local stores. It looked good, had the correct electronics, a wire holder under the desk for holding things like power strips and a hook for holding a pair of headphones.
So, what went wrong? I asked the salesperson to show me the desk “in action” (i.e. make it go up and down on its electric motor). The desk wasn’t plugged in to an electric socket, as the nearest one was about 3 m away. Luckily, the store had an extension cable which it was easy to plug into that distant socket and then move closer to the desk. We plugged in the desk, but nothing happened. We looked for the instruction manual and here was the second problem: it was all in Chinese characters and no one could read it.
Where I live and work, three languages are spoken, one of which is Chinese. Unfortunately, they couldn’t put their hands on manuals in the other languages. So, there we were needing a “troubleshooting guide” and not being able to do anything about it…
I was more disappointed than annoyed. After all the desk looked right, had everything I needed and if they had had one that worked and/or a troubleshooting guide, they could have made a sale. Unfortunately, it looked like they now simply had a desk.
We need to make sure we get the details right. There’s no point in putting something on display if you can’t sell it (how many times have we said we wanted to buy a particular item in a store only to be told “Sorry, that’s just a display model.”) If it’s a display model, and you have no other stock, then take it off the display.
Equally if something is on display and stock is available, sales staff need to know how to make it work, where to find the manual and the manual needs to be in the appropriate language.
In retrospect, all of this seems “common sense”. However, it’s surprising how often we encounter cases where the “sense” isn’t so “common”.
What can we as business leaders do to make sure we cover as many of these little details that could lose our business as possible?
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email.
Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Teamwork
WhatsApp: Blessing or Curse?
Many of us now use the well-known messaging service WhatsApp - an app that performs across platforms whether they be Android or iOS.
WhatsApp allows us to communicate both with our nearest and dearest, our friends and groups that we’ve set up or of which we’re members. Rather like email however, there is in my opinion a proper way to use it.
First things first: we need to remember that when we send a WhatsApp message, we’re “intruding” into someone else’s “private space”. We may have agreed that we’ll WhatsApp them (for example, when they’ve asked us for information).
The problem comes when people want to start a conversation and fail to plan it. By this I mean, they need to compose in their minds what they want to say and then type it out in full. How many times have we all received messages like this?
“Hello/hi there/good morning”
“I wanted to ask you something”
“Can you let me know…?”
“TVM”
It’s only with the third sentence in the above message that we get to the crux of the matter. I’ve developed a habit of sending my message or question in full. If the other person can answer it, right away, great. If not (and it’s not urgent), I can wait.
Do you have a “WhatsApp Etiquette” that you’ve developed for your business and/or for yourself?
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Teamwork
When They Go Quiet
Have you ever been in a situation where you noticed that suddenly, a colleague who was always keen to suggest ideas or improvements or comment on a project of some sort suddenly "went quiet"?
You can tell a lot about an organisation by whether they encourage people to “speak up” or whether other people’s ideas are squashed. Some call this the “Yes Culture”. Whatever it is, if someone who was always willing to say something (assuming it was always intelligent or constructive) suddenly stops contributing, that should be a concern for the organisation.
I’ve worked in cultures that slavishly followed the “Yes boss” philosophy as well as others in which contributions were encouraged, heard and given due respect. In some military cultures, the rank and file are encouraged to dissect an officer’s plan to see whether they (the officer) have forgotten something or whether things could be improved.
The problem with encouraging a “Yes Culture” is that we end up with an “echo chamber” in which the team simply parrots the boss. This is not only toxic for those concerned, but also highly risky for the organisation as people may be lead down the wrong path. It’s characteristic of governments where power is concentrated in one individual. There are at least four such governments in the world at present.
From experience, I can safely say that it hurts when people “tear apart” the plan or project I’ve worked on for so long. As long as the tearing apart is constructive and results in a better plan or project, it’s worth it (and we learn what to look out for in future). If it’s simply to score points then again one has a toxic culture.
It takes only one person to destroy an open, trusting and proactive culture. I ’ve seen with my own eyes where an employee (not the “boss” themself) acted as a “happiness vampire”. When we asked for ideas or comments in a meeting, everyone else would look to that member of staff who usually sat there with a face like a thundercloud!
In the end we had to let that person go. The effect was electric! The next day everybody walked in with heads held high and were laughing, chatting and from then on suggesting ideas or commenting on discussions or plans.
The next time we see someone “go silent”, it’s time to find out why.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
Employers and Automation
I recently heard that employers are now taking action to combat the rising tide of AI generated CVs by adding extra “layers” to their selection process.
One of these layers is a “face-to-face interview”. I was surprised to read this, as I consider the interview a vital tool in determining whether somebody is “right”. No matter how many psychometric tests, and other technological traps one lays, once applicants “wise up”, they’ll simply deploy counter measures.
Interviews also give candidates the chance to meet and assess those with whom they’ll work. For me, the interview process benefits both sides in the long run.
The US discovered very quickly that despite its high-altitude all-seeing, all-hearing UAVs in the sky, nothing beat the “Mk I eyeball” and “boots on the ground” in contested territory.
The same metaphor is now extending to the workplace. Candidates who simply rely on AI to get them through the process will probably find they can get a job somewhere but the quality employers will still deploy the “Mk I eyeball” to decide who’s truly worth hiring.
One wonders if part of the drive towards automation is due to the newer generations of employee to whom technology is as basic a tool as running water and electricity is to other generations. The problem is, if these new generations lack the human skills to deal with others, they will clearly face problems further on in their careers where human contact is still a prerequisite.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Customer Care, Leadership, Teamwork
Managing Meetings
There’s an African saying, “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”
Meetings, as we’ve often found to our cost, can be value destroyers by taking up too much of our time.
Since COVID ended, more meetings may be held “virtually” with attendees from all parts of the world joining in from different time zones. This means that collaboration gets more difficult as not only are people more spread out than they used to be in the past, they’re also “cognitively disconnected”, meaning they don’t necessarily “think the same way” and see others as "faces on a screen".
Not only do we have team meetings, we also have one-to-one meetings with our managers (and our direct reports) to discuss our individual objectives and status of current projects that we’re working on.
I read recently that office workers can spend up to almost 15 hours a week in meetings (reclaim.AI). That’s almost 2 full working days out of five.
The modern office worker is increasingly asked to work on different projects with different people. This results in them feeling that they’re constantly being pulled in too many different directions. It's also mentally taxing. Science has proven that the human brain isn't really designed to multitask in the way that many organisations require.
The result? People maintain a semblance of productivity by focusing on small quick tasks that don’t require too much concentration (e.g. dealing with emails, answering the phone, updating lists). This is what we call “busy work” but what it does is prevent our teams from focusing on their more challenging tasks – the ones that are strategically important for the organisation.
How can we as leaders make sure that meetings are well spent? The first priority is define the objectives of meetings to make sure our people don’t feel they’re wasting their time.
Ensuring the efficient spread of internal knowledge and information is also vital. Rumours are one thing; facts are another. In a modern world it’s even more difficult to find the information we may need to be effective (there’s just so much!).
Finally, we need to look at how much we’re putting on peoples’ shoulders. There are “humans” in “Human Resources”, not just “resources” …
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
What Causes Substandard Behaviour?
I recently commented on a four-step procedure to address poor behaviour by workers in a team.
Apart from someone “trying it on” we, as leaders, need to be aware that there could be other genuine issues causing the behaviour.
As Ashleigh Warner said, “Behind every behaviour is an emotion and behind every emotion is a need. If we address the need, we can address the behaviour.”
In other words, if we were to take the common example I used in my article about someone being persistently late, is there a reason? For example, are they a single parent who has to get their child or children to school or care? Do they have to tend to a poorly relative before they can safely leave home?
We have to bear in mind as leaders that all our people are different with different needs and with different motivations. One quality of a good leader is that they care as much about their workers well-being as their work.
Before launching into dire warnings of disciplinary procedures to follow, it’s worth taking the time to find out whether that worker’s experiencing personal problems that, perhaps, they are ashamed to talk about. They may have confided in a colleague (have they got a “close pal” in the team?)?
If we as leaders are doing our jobss correctly, our people should be confident enough to share their personal ambitions, problems and fears with us. The key is trust.
What can we do to earn our people’s trust?
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
Pointing Out "Substandard Behaviour"
We all dread it: the “Performance Review”, “One on One” or “Feedback Session” in which we as leaders are compelled to point out that an employee may have performed in a less than satisfactory manner.
Humans are “hardwired” not to harm their fellows (except in self-defence). We’re “social animals” and don’t like hurting each other. It’s also a natural self-preservation instinct, perhaps stemming from the days where the individual belonged to a tribe and that was what gave them strength.
Substandard behaviour, however, is one thing we can't allow. It can destroy the productivity, morale and cohesiveness of otherwise good teams (I’ve experienced it). It has to be dealt with - fast.
We all have to point up poor behaviour from time to time. A simple four-step formula is provided by Betsy Allen who suggests:
1. State the problem clearly, e.g.: “I notice you’ve been late to work recently.”
2. Explain why this is a problem and how the behaviour impacts you and all the team. For example, “This affects the start time for the rest of the team,” or “this is causing your fellow team members to grumble.” (although the last may provoke tension amongst the team members involved!)
3. Provide a way of correcting the behaviour, for example “I need you to be here at 9:00 am from here on in.”
4. Finally, state what will happen if the poor behaviour continues, for example “If you’re late again, I’ll need to take further disciplinary action.”
The last part can be the most difficult of all (especially if you have to implement it - and people will test you to see if you "put your money where your mouth is"). It’s natural for people to be defensive, resentful and even aggressive when they’re being criticised. This is why we need to:
- Point out the specific behaviour causing the problem.
- Explain why it’s a problem.
- What can be done to correct the problem.
- The consequences if the problem continues.
If the worker concerned refuses to take accountability for their behaviour or points out that “others do the same”, we explain that we’re looking at their behaviour in this particular instance. One hopes that other workers aren’t also coming in late (and, if they are, is it because their “ring leader” - the staff we’re talking to now - is the cause of it?)
The key here is to ensure that we stop objections such as, “But everyone else is doing it,” or “I’m not the only one doing it.” These are “gaslighting” techniques used to deflect accountability for behaviour. It’s always someone else’s fault!
If, indeed, the whole team are guilty of coming in late, then a simple warning to the team should be sufficient. That way, everybody will know that being late is unacceptable in our team.
If the worker in question persists in the behaviour, then there’s only one final solution for it…
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Career, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
Turning Them Over
“People don’t leave bad companies. They leave bad bosses”.
One of the problems any employer faces is staff turnover. Some industries experience this at a more rapid rate than others as a “natural event. Call centres are a case in point: youngsters fresh out of school or university work a shift system for two years to gain experience in customer service before realising that a 24-hour shift system doesn’t leave them much social life.
But there are other reasons employees leave voluntarily and all stem from leadership.
Let’s start with lack of recognition. We want to be recognised for our contribution (however small) and simply not being noticed/acknowledged can be demotivating in the extreme. How do we feel when the boss takes all the credit?
Another could be lack of trust from the manager. There could be good reasons for this, e.g. we haven’t yet proven that we can be trusted to manage on our own. However, if our work is being constantly checked even after a considerable number of years, clearly something’s wrong. There may be exceptions to this (banking is one that comes to mind, flying a commercial airliner is another). Is it a training issue or a “genuine” competence issue?
This leads to a related cause: micromanagement, when no one can do anything without being constantly corrected by their manager.
Growth opportunities again are important for people. We want to be promoted. We want more experience. We want more responsibility (generally).
Broken promises also feature heavily. Promises must be fulfilled unless there are extremely extenuating circumstances (e.g. a pandemic, a takeover, or something else major). Managers who don’t keep their promises find themselves suffering from lack of trust in their team.
Culture is also key. There’s a famous saying that the culture of an organisation is shaped by the worst behaviour that the leader is prepared to accept. Culture can make a real difference in terms of morale, productivity, and whether people go to bed on Sunday evening looking forward to coming to work the next day or not. I’ve experienced jobs where I woke up every morning dreading going to work either because of a toxic boss or a toxic culture. Equally, I’ve had jobs where I couldn’t wait to get to work!
Leaders who lack the necessary leadership skills, the interpersonal skills, or others are also a major issue and this lack is often related to causes enumerated above.
If you’ve got this far, you may be asking “what about compensation?” Poor compensation is a factor (for some). However, if we look at the wide variety of jobs available “out there” there are those that are comparatively poorly compensated compared to others. A university professor who is one of the few world experts on a particular subject may not be as well paid as, say, a successful 35-year-old investment banker who earns huge bonuses. “Compensation” means different things to different people. For some, it’s cash. For others want recognition. “Everyone has their price”.
I find that I often observe both myself and other leaders by doing “mini audits” where any of these problems may lie. Of the eight causes listed above, how many may be present or at least a risk in our organisations?
As Bob Nelson commented, “An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of their interactions with his or her manager.”
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
Toxic Leadership Behaviour
With ever-increasing pressure on leaders to “perform” these days, the temptation to indulge in what some might see as “toxic “strategies can be very powerful.
I recently read a fascinating article by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink on some of the typical toxic behaviours one might encounter.
Kraaijenbrink identifies seven key behaviours. He starts with micromanagement: a behaviour that stifles innovation and trust as workers feel undervalued and demotivated, meaning lack of job satisfaction due to seeing their work continuously undermined.
The next is withholding information. If someone does this deliberately to keep their people in the dark, the result is a culture of secrecy and mistrust – the “information is power” syndrome. The team may also not be able to make effective decisions. To this I would add the opposite: deluging workers with information, emails, memos and such like whether they’re relevant to them or not. This causes “information overload” and stress as people try to work out and prioritise what’s important. A good leader acts as an “information funnel”, reviewing inbound messages and deciding which are relevant for which worker.
Many of us will have heard the maxim that leadership is a position offering an opportunity to build others. Thinking of one’s position in “hierarchical terms” is likely to mean the leader believes in command-and-control style.
“Divide and conquer” tactics result in cohesiveness and trust amongst team members being destroyed and a toxic working environment. Additionally, they undermine collaboration and encourage destructive competition.
How often have we heard of “the leader who’s never there”? Employees and workers will feel they’re not supported as well as experiencing uncertainty in direction. Additionally, personal development and addressing issues promptly may result in lower job satisfaction.
Another toxic behaviour in terms of managing people comes in the form of seeing team members as resources rather than human beings (think of the ghastly “Human Resources” description for the department charged with workers’ well-being). In such cases, burn-out, lack of engagement and high turnover can result.
Finally, the all-too common fault of playing favourites can destroy team morale and result in divisions and resentment when merit is overlooked, discouraging effort and loyalty.
Personally, I know I’ve been guilty of several of these sins at one time or another. The key is to learn from them and avoid repeating them.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Customer Care, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
Teamwork Comes from TRUST
Stephen Covey, author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” once commented that “without trust we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team.”
The art or science (or both) of teamwork has been the subject of many studies. The US Navy SEALS generally won’t put someone on the team if they can’t trust them. So what is it that creates this “trust” that seems to be so important?
From what I’ve seen, there are several factors at play:
First and foremost, team members must feel safe. This means that not only must they feel safe to make mistakes, but they must also feel safe to admit them, ask for help and that people won’t try to “stab them in the back”. There are countless stories of certain industry sectors where people claw their way to the top over the backs of others, where admitting to weakness or mistakes is a “career limiting move”.
Another factor is communication. Team members must have open and frank communication and be able to feel safe in saying things. This has already been mentioned in the first paragraph dealing with safety. However, it’s just as important to be able to voice concerns, complaints, criticisms about what’s going on. Of course, when it comes to one’s teammates, things need to be done in a more diplomatic way, but if someone isn’t, say, pulling their weight or is causing trouble one way or another, then an “intervention” is needed and fast before team morale and productivity suffer irreparably.
Understanding one’s own strengths and weaknesses as a team member is also vital. Some people are “naturals” at sales. Others may not be so gifted in this area, but turn out to be brilliant organisers, administrators and checkers. Yet others are able to keep the team “together” when tiredness sets in or morale starts to flag.
Understanding the interplay of all these factors (and more) is vital in managing team dynamics. Once the team truly trusts each other to “have their back” it’s amazing what they can accomplish!
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
Learning Through Mistakes
I’ve come to realise that you can’t develop leaders and good decision-making without also allowing people to make mistakes and (preferably) learn from them!
The best way to learn is to make mistakes. None of us remember learning to walk but if you ever watch an infant learning, you’ll notice that they’ll keep falling over and picking themselves up until they “get it right”.
Whilst it may be dangerous (financially and – or for health and safety reasons) to allow people to fail too often, learning from one’s mistakes provides the best experience for the next generation of leaders. As that famous philosopher “someone “said, “Good decisions are the result of experience. Experience is the result of poor decisions.”
The skill of the leader who’s bringing up the next generation is to know when they can be allowed to fail (without provoking disastrous consequences) and when to give them closer guidance. What many notice is that, in the beginning, a fair degree of “hands on” instruction and guidance is necessary, but as the “apprentice” gains in experience, confidence and commitment to the organisation and shows they are capable of either thinking things through or, at least, knowing when to ask for help or advice then one can slowly “let go the reins”.
Not only will this develop a capable generation of leaders, but it also allows their leaders to spend time on other important tasks, adding value to the organisation. The culture of the “blame game” where aspiring leaders are allowed to fall flat on their proverbial face is neither building nor likely to develop leaders. Indeed, it will only serve to develop a generation of risk avoiders who when faced with a crisis, either “pass the buck” or are likely to lead the organisation to disaster.
I have seen the results described above in a number of cases. All decisions as a result are referred “up the line””.
Scientific studies have shown that humans are mentally conditioned to avoid action that could result in a loss, more so than to take a risk that may result in a substantial gain to them or their organisation. This is probably due to our old “survival instinct” from man’s early days. Whilst it may still be applicable in certain situations, it doesn’t apply to all.
We’ll never eliminate risk entirely unless we refuse to take any action with any degree of risk. We can however coach the next generation of leaders to think for themselves in such a way that they examine a situation critically, consult with others and take the most well-considered and informed choice available to them based on experience.
How is your organisation set up for this?
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Career, Leadership, Risk, Teamwork
A First Attempt in Learning!
One of the more useful (but frustrating!) learning experiences I’ve had was dealing with someone who just set up their own business producing “environmentally friendly” business cards.
His product was simple: take a company’s business card, transfer it to a credit card-size piece of plastic and embed a chip that held all the details of the business card. Along with this, a QR code was printed on the card which took you to a site giving you the same business card information. Even better, with certain brands of smart phone, just touching the card to the smart phone automatically transferred all business card information onto the smartphone and the user could then save it as a new contact. Brilliant idea. Environmentally friendly. Practical.
The downside was that, whilst the concept was sound, execution was flawed. After three months of working with this business trying to produce a professional card, we finally gave up. It’s not something that comes naturally or easily to businesspeople. The problem was that we could see no end in sight; there was always something wrong in the dummy copies produced. What’s more, we were asked to pay for the cards before they were delivered so we would pay and then receive a card that wasn’t fit for purpose.
Sometime ago, I wrote about knowing when to hold, fold, or walk away. In this instance we decided to walk away. We sent what we considered was a polite message thanking the business for their efforts and making a goodwill payment for the work they had done. The amount of work we had put in designing, proofreading several erroneous print runs and explaining what a business card was used for was far higher than the value of the card.
The other business’ reaction? Not prepared to accept any accountability for their errors. Instead, we got a catalogue of excuses, including the well-worn “No one else has had a problem with this.” Maybe no one had had a problem with this before, but there’s always a first time for everything.
This is a project we’d still like to pursue with the right partner. One day even the business that we walked away from may have perfected its operating model, in which case great. We’d far rather support a growing local small business than deal with a large, faceless corporate entity. The trouble is, they need to have a sound business operating model.
This was also a great learning opportunity for us. We learned the importance of explaining our particular branding, the message behind it and to be able to design artwork suitable for transferring onto a medium other than paper. Yes, we lost a bit of money, but we learnt far more from our mistakes and assumptions and the consequences that arose. We’ll know better how to proceed the next time.
In the meantime, we’ll still have to use “paper” business cards.
Just because something ends in failure or we have to walk away, it can still be a lesson. The trick is to learn from that experience, and not repeat the same mistake. In this case, neither of us were ready for the other.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Teamwork
