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Leadership Is
for Everyone
by Christine Harvey
Do we need good
performance? The Japanese
think so. I
remember well a conversation I had with a business acquaintance in Tokyo
.
“You know,
Christine,” he said, “we have a commitment here that Westerners don't
understand. People take their careers and their responsibilities seriously
here. Perhaps you could say too seriously.”
“I’ll tell you the
truth. If a manager of a major company is given a very important job--let's
say to develop a new machine cheaper and better than the rival
competitor--then the success in this job means a major promotion. Failure
means
demotion. I guarantee that the person will do everything possible to succeed
on time, within budget.”
“And what if the
person fails?” I asked. “Well now,” he said, “that person may well commit
suicide. That is the seriousness of commitments.”
As I sat in the
palatial surrounding of the hotel in Tokyo, I thought about commitment. Yes,
my friend was right, that is a commitment Westerners don't understand. But
if we were in that environment long enough, or were born into it, we would
understand it. We would live by it.
Tell Them What’s
Expected
The same is true of
breeding leadership. If you set the right environment for people, they
develop leadership. If you set a lax environment, they develop laxness.
If we want our
people to learn commitment and leadership, we have to make sure they know:
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The end results expected.
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How to segment and handle the
task.
Bill Sykes
remembers
well the practices of his first boss, Piers Flashman, at Horlicks
Pharmaceuticals Company. Piers was one of the early influences on Bill
because his management style was so effective.
Piers always took
time with his employees in delegating responsibility. He didn't assume that
they knew what the end goal was. He took time to make sure the job objective
was clearly laid out.
Bill remembers when
they were faced with a massive job of setting up a new pharmaceutical
research
laboratory. This required purchasing equipment, moving people, and so on.
Piers would explain, “Now I'm taking responsibility for the building
contract, and I want you to be responsible for sales administration,” and so
on.
Regardless of the
pressure he was under, he would stop at the end of the day to make sure
everyone understood their responsibilities.
Bill and his
colleagues who were just out of college thrived under this leadership.
People must know where they're going in order to have commitment getting
there.
Bill, in his
organizational development work, sees examples often within companies of
managers presuming employees know how to handle a task and know what end
result is expected. They don't. Usually they don't see what is obvious to do
until we show them.
What ability must
we develop in people if they are to assume responsibility and leadership?
It's the ability not just to take action, but to get the end goal
accomplished.
If you ask your
employee to get information about opening a bank account, you don't mean you
want some information. You mean you want all the information necessary to
open the account. Most employees who eventually fail in leadership think
their job is finished when they get whatever information the bank gives
them. They don't stop to question whether the information meets the end
goal. They don't ask, “Do I now have the complete information necessary to
open the account?”
Many think their job is done
because they were told to call the bank and they did. They tried to get
information. They got information. But they didn't take it to the logical
conclusion. That gap between the task and the results, is the leadership
gap. Our job is to train people to see the end result and all the segments
necessary to reach it.
Teach the Difference
Between Trying and Doing
Why? Because when
we have everyone reaching the end result and not just working on the task,
our companies will profit. How can people be taught to bridge that gap?
First we have to
make people aware of the leadership gap the difference between just trying
and accomplishing.
A psychologist I
know uses a very powerful technique to demonstrate this difference. She
starts by throwing a pencil on the floor. Then she says, “Try to pick up
that pencil.” As people bend over and almost touch it, she says, “Wait, I
said try to pick it up, not pick it up.”
Do you see the
meaning of try? We either do it or we don't. Trying and accomplishing are
two different things.
I remember an
employee who called the bank for me. I wanted to invest some company money
for a short period of time and needed to know the interest rate and the
withdrawal restrictions. There is an overnight call account and a two-day
notice account. We needed details on both US dollars and Japanese yen.
The employee called
the bank. The bank manager was in a meeting and the foreign exchange
expert’s line was busy. A second call revealed that the bank manager knew
some answers, but not all of them, and would have his expert get all the
details. A third call revealed that the expert knew the interest rate, but
was unclear about the withdrawal terms.
That went on and
on. Until I made my employee realize that their job was actually to get
all the information, not just try to get it. They then probed until
they got all the answers they needed. That's the value of a leader--one who
can be counted on to accomplish--not just to try.
Tackle Even Small Tasks Relentlessly
If a person can be trained to
tackle a task like the one above relentlessly, they will learn to handle
bigger management problems the same way.
Just as Bill's first boss knew, people have to understand the
expected end result if they are to develop leadership. By holding people
responsible for small complete tasks, we are nurturing leadership for the
future.
How do we foster this leadership, and commitment to high
standards? As managers, we have to start with ourselves.
I remember a hit song that said, “You've got to stand for
something, or you're going to fall for anything.”
We have to be known for a motto that says trying isn't
enough. When people see your standards, they recognize you as a leader. They
follow in your footsteps. Thus we help people bridge the leadership gap.
One of my past employees was never afraid to ask questions or
contribute her opinions, and they are always valued opinions. When given a
task, she always probed to get all the details. She always made sure she
knew the expected end results.
When I asked her about it she told me, “I always feel it's
better to stand up and make a decision and have it be wrong, than not to
make a decision at all.” That's the way she felt people could progress and
not stagnate.
If everyone took this attitude, our companies would prosper
from a wealth of new ideas and improvements. Yet fear often stands in their
way.
It's up to people to overcome their fear, realizing it will
help their progress. It's also up to managers to create a safe environment
for this to happen.
When
we take on a new job, like fostering leadership, we face uncertainties. We
open up new horizons. We grow. Our leadership ability grows. People then
rely on us as leaders. It's then that we get results second to none.
Remember the perfect way to motivate is to:
Bring
out the leadership in everyone.
ACTION SHEET
Ideas
for Development:
1. Set an example
of commitment and leadership
2. Let the expected
end result be known.
3. Make sure people
know how to segment tasks.
4. Teach the
differences between trying and doing.
5. Create a safe
and open environment for ideas.
6. List other
points here:
7
Of the above ideas,
which one is likely to yield the best results?
What percentage of
sales (or performance) increase could realistically be expected?
How long would it
take: to develop the idea? to get results?
Who would have to
be involved?
What date should we
start?
What is the first
step I should take?
Want to learn
more on this topic? Christine Harvey has written six books in 25 language
that cover many of the concepts found here.
You can get your own copy by
clicking here or visiting our eShop.
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