Effective Organizations Create a Culture Based on Honesty, Integrity, and Mutual Respect

Our 2013 Newsletter Series examines the Top 11 Characteristics of "Effective Organizations". To qualify for this distinction, an organization must not only meet its stated goals and accomplish its stated mission, but the mission and goals must be ones that people would want to invest in and/or participate in because they bring superior value to not only the individual, but also customers and society in general. So far we have seen that an Effective Organization:

#1 -- clearly defines and communicates mission / goals / values / expectations

#2 -- aligns all aspects of the organization including people, systems and processes

#3 -- models and develops Facilitative-Relational Leadership throughout the organization

#4 -- holds everyone accountable with both positive and negative consequences for results

#5 -- builds a collaborative and empowered environment based upon teamwork

#6 -- tolerates appropriate risk taking and learns from both success and failure in an attempt to be innovative

#7 -- focuses on meeting customer expectations and needs.

This month we will look at how an Effective Organization:

#8 -- creates a culture based on honesty, integrity and mutual respect.

Honesty & Integrity

Let’s start our discussion by focusing first on honesty and integrity. What does it mean to have a culture based on honesty and integrity? We tend to think of honesty as “telling the truth” and integrity as “doing what you say you will do”. I once heard someone define integrity as “doing what is right even when no one else is watching” and I think that is a really good working definition of the term.

Have you ever worked with someone that you didn’t trust because that person told you one thing and did another? Maybe it only happened on one occasion, but sometimes it only takes one violation of trust to create distrust. As a customer, have you ever been promised one thing, but gotten something else? How did this make you feel about patronizing that company again?

Effective organizations are built on a foundation of honesty and integrity because their leaders know that this creates an environment of trust both within the organization and with those that do business with the organization. Leaders know that the willingness of their employees to follow them and of customers to patronize them is determined by the level of trust that those employees and customers have in them.

These leaders also know that this is a result of a history of them meeting expectations that have been clearly articulated and communicated. In effect, this creates an environment where employees are willing to follow leadership because they can predict outcomes.....an environment where customers are willing to pay money for goods or services because they can predict outcomes.

Moral & Ethical Behavior

Honesty and integrity also require moral and ethical behavior as a component. These concepts are difficult to define, but at a minimum include a set or code of accepted values and principles that follow not only legal requirements, but also take into consideration the impact that decisions have on others, both internally and externally. Honest people and organizations are those that are seen to consistently and predictably abide by society’s accepted code of morality and ethics even when faced with the opportunity to violate that code. Unfortunately, history is full of examples of people and organizations that have violated society’s legal and moral code. Fortunately, leaders of effective organizations do not usually appear on that list.

Mutual Respect

Effective organizations also attempt to create a culture based on “mutual respect”. Mutual respect is an outward and reciprocal regard for the dignity of another person. It is demonstrated by the way two or more individuals interact, especially when communicating with one another. It involves an attempt to understand the views and feelings of another person and the other person doing the same in return. It involves not only attempting to understand views and feelings, but doing so in a manner that communicates interest through the way we look (body language), what we say (our words) and how we say it (tone of voice). Mutual respect does not mean always agreeing with, or even liking others....it means ensuring mutual opportunity to express views while maintaining one's dignity. Failure to engage in mutual respect very often leads to friction, conflict, and ultimately organizational (and even personal relationship) failure. If you don’t believe this, just Google “divorce attorneys” and see how many hits you get!

What's the point?

Our introductory definition of "Effective Organizations" makes the case for honesty, integrity and mutual respect -- bring superior value to not only the individual, but also customers and society in general. While value is most easily seen from a financial perspective, it is most clearly felt by internal and external customers in the way they are treated -- especially when nobody is looking.

Effective Organizations Tolerate Acceptable Risk and Learn from Success & Failure in an Attempt to Be Innovative

Risk is a natural part of life. Just about every decision that we make has some level of risk associated with it. Some risk is inconsequential, such as the decision regarding the color of the shirt that you decided to wear this morning. On the other hand, some risk can have significant impact on you and those with whom you associate, e.g., whether you ask a specific person to marry you or not. We start taking risks from a very early age and if we didn’t, we would probably never learn how to walk! Without some level of risk, things would never change or improve and effective leaders understand this.

Do You Value Initiative?

We often ask our Performance Management course participants whether they would rather have employees who show initiative or those who just do what they were told to do. They always respond with “I want employees who show initiative”.

But initiative is a form of risk-taking because the decision that the employee makes could be wrong and negatively impact desired results.

Clarify "Appropriate Risk"

Effective leaders are careful to clarify what they mean by “appropriate” risk taking and consistently encourage both initiative and innovative thinking while helping employees understand what is appropriate by helping them understand the potential results of both failure and success.

Understanding Context

We work with many organizations to help them improve performance and especially safety related performance. We know that the decisions that people make, both safety and non-safety related are driven by their understanding of contextual factors including themselves, others, the environment and the organizational systems.

Local Rationality

We have discussed before in other newsletters and articles the concept of “local rationality” in that our decisions make sense to us given our interpretation of the context and the associated risk. For example, we may make a decision to forego wearing safety glasses because we are being rushed by our supervisor to get the job done quickly and safety glasses are not readily available. We accept the risk of possible injury because the risk of displeasing the boss is seen as greater in the moment (local rationality).

Creating a New Context

Effective leaders attempt to create contexts that control factors (pressure to rush) that can lead to poor decision making (not wearing safety glasses) while increasing the chances of effective and even innovative decision making (coming up with a plan to both wear safety glasses and get the job done quickly).

They do this by encouraging active dialogue about the workplace (context) and ways to improve that context to encourage employees to take initiative (appropriate risk taking).

Contextual Analysis

Effective Leaders evaluate why both success and failure occur within the organizational context and do so without assuming poor motivation as a starting point. (See May newsletter for further discussion of contextual analysis and accountability).

What's the point?

Effective Organizations are filled with individuals who make good decisions about acceptable risk (initiative) because their leaders have created an organizational environment (context) that assists in that decision making.

Championship Teams are the Result of 5 Critical Factors

Before starting a career in oilfield operations and ultimately consulting, I was fortunate to coach ten high school football and baseball teams to state championships. As I look back at what made us successful as sports teams and then start to look at the very successful business teams I have been fortunate to serve on, I notice a trend.  They both have the same five critical factors necessary to be successful.

1. Great teams set high goals. We never set a goal to win X number of games, we always set a goal to win the championship. In business, we never set a goal to be average, rather we set goals that would create a competitive advantage for our team and company.
2. Great Teams hold themselves accountable. As we have stated before, accountability does not mean punishment. We must focus on three things for which we must hold all team members accountable:
   • expected behaviors related to how team members respond to one another
   • continuous process improvement to reach higher and higher objectives
   • tasks done on time and done right.
3. Great teams talk through tough issues. Team members do not always agree on everything and at times don’t even get along. To help with these “bumps in the road”, great teams must show respect to all team members, focus on the goal and collaborate for success. Dr. Stephen Covey once said “It is not my way or your way it is a better way” that is the essence of collaboration as you check your ego at the door and focus on the goals and objectives set out from the start. (Check out the latest Newsletter on Collaboration and Teamwork).
4. Great teams connect their work with the other teams in the company. They understand that the Company as a whole is the total team and that its success is based on the success of all the teams that support and deliver that success. Knowing this, they will then support and contribute to other teams as necessary and share knowledge and results throughout the organization.

Great teams believe in their mission/goals. A Gallup Poll released June 11, 2013 indicated that only 30% of workers are engaged at the workplace and that the vast majority do just enough to get by. Great teams get their teammates to understand how their efforts impact the team and company and ultimately get them to buy-in. They know that to motivate the employee to a top level of performance they must align sub-team goals with the goals of the overall team.

Let’s look at these 5 critical behaviors through the lens of one of the more underrated American sports team. The San Antonio Spurs have quietly built a dynasty of sorts. No, they may not be the Celtics of the of the ‘60s that won 8 in a row and it’s not the Bulls of the Michael Jordan era, but they are great in their own right. No, they didn’t win the World Championship this year, but they did take a far superior team (on paper) to 7 games and they have 4 championships since 1999.

This is what is amazing about the run the Spurs have been on over that time, they are ALWAYS overmatched on paper. If you simply compared the talent of the players, the Spurs are almost always on the short end of that stick. Sure they have Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and had David Robinson. These are all names that the casual fan has heard at some point, but they may not have heard of them if they hadn’t played for the Spurs. Ginobili and Parker look more like law partners than world class athletes and the two big men quite honestly are closer to Will Purdue than they are Wilt Chamberlain. So how do they win? How have they continued to be so successful?

Look back at our list of 5 critical factors and imagine what it must be like to be on that team and playing for a leader like Greg Popovich. Do you think each team starts with the goal of winning a World Championship? Do you think the coaches hold the players accountable to their actions and performance, as well as the players to other players? Do you think they deal with tough issues that arise over a grueling 82 game schedule? Do you think the front office, medical staff, coaches, players, etc. all have the same mission and vision for the organization? Do you think that the entire organization has bought into this vision? If you answered “yes” to all of these questions then you see what an incredibly functional team must look like. The other side of that coin must look like the Dallas Cowboys, but it pains me far too much to discuss that disfunction in this blog.

Effective Organizations Build a Collaborative and Empowered Environment Based upon Teamwork

Highly effective organizations are composed of highly effective teams. Leadership in these highly effective organizations are intentional in the development of those teams and utilize two key tools to aid in this development: Collaboration and Empowerment.

Collaboration

A collaborative environment is one in which members work together to solve problems and to create and implement new ideas. It is based on the notion that through the sharing of ideas and effort, other, better ideas and results can be attained. Additionally, it is based on the notion that common purpose (i.e., the achievement of better results) and shared respect for one another will lead to unselfish contribution and support of and from other team members.

In a collaborative environment, team leaders make sure that objectives are clearly stated and understood by all team members and that shared respect is always present. If disrespect occurs, these leaders are quick to address the issue, determine the cause and re-establish an environment of shared respect.

Team leaders are also quick to recognize the combined efforts of their team members and reinforce those efforts. Collaboration is really the opposite of competition because in collaborative efforts everyone is a “winner” and no one is a “loser”, whereas in competition their is always a winner and a loser. In competitive environments the tendency is for the loser to either become less motivated to participate, or more motivated to “get even”, neither of which leads to better results.

Collaborative teamwork is like basketball where “assists” are just as important as shooting because without the assists, the shots will be less likely to score points for the team.

Collaboration also increases “ownership” by team members because each one has input into the process and thus “owns” a piece of the effort and the result.

Empowerment

Within these collaborative environments, leaders empower their employees and teams by giving them the opportunity to take initiative and make decisions without “getting permission” first.

Empowerment is based primarily on “trust” that the empowered person will make a decision that is in the best interest of the team and one that will achieve the stated objective.

Empowerment is always relative to the ability and motivation of the individual being empowered. It is based on the understanding that the empowered person has the knowledge, skill, motivation, etc. to make the “right” decisions and execute effectively on those decisions.

Empowerment does not mean “lack of accountability”. Remember our discussion of this topic in our May Newsletter (Effective organizations hold everyone accountable for both positive and negative results). If failures do occur, empowering leaders do not automatically assume that the failure was a result of poor motivation, but rather assumes that the person gave his or her best effort and then explores for the “real” cause(s) for the failure.

If the failure was motivational, then the leader attempts to understand the factors underlying the lack of motivation before attempting to motivate the person. If the failure is not motivational, the leader then works with the person to develop a plan to prevent the failure from occurring again. Failure is seen as an “opportunity” to improve and reduce the chances of additional failure going forward. It is never seen as an opportunity to lay blame.

What's the point?

Empowered employees have a greater sense of satisfaction in their work, a greater sense of ownership and an increased willingness to work together. Ownership increases the likelihood that the employee will exert the effort necessary to achieve success.

You Might Not Always Get What You Want

What does it mean to have a "Formal Culture" and an "Informal Culture"?

Have you ever instituted a new policy or procedure into your organization, spent countless hours and dollars trying to drive the initiative throughout the organization, only to see it fall flat? Organizations large and small face a similar problem -- how to make their organization become what they envision it to be.

When organizational experts refer to the overall performance of an organization, they often use the word “culture”. While there is disagreement on the exact definition of organizational culture, most would agree that it includes the values and behaviors that the majority of participants engage in; what most of the people believe and do most of the time. This is called the “informal culture” as compared to the “formal culture”, or what the leadership wants the culture to be. It makes no difference if your organization is a large corporation, a small “mom and pop”, a non-profit, or an educational institution, each of you have a formal and informal culture. One aspect of great organizations is that they close the gap between the two cultures so that “what’s going on - out there” very much resembles the vision of leadership.

“Informal Culture is what

most of the people believe and do

most of the time.”

You may wonder if these great organizations close this culture gap by hiring the “right people”, or if they do something more intentional to close this gap. The answer quite simply is both. Great organizations start with great people, but they also understand and affect the other aspects of their culture.

The Best Organizations

The best organizations don’t stop with simply creating rules and policies, they do much more to impact the everyday behavior of their employees. If you’ll refer back to our August 2012 Post on the role of contextual factors in industrial safety incident prevention, the very best bosses and organizations understand that human performance is a result of complex systems. Organizational factors such as rules, policies, and reward systems are only a portion of the complex system that drives human performance. The best organizations understand that it is also people, both the individual and intact teams, plus surroundings that drive their overall performance. If the employee base has failed to implement a new directive from leadership, there could be several reasons affecting this. It could be that employees don’t understand the new initiative, operational pressures contradict the initiative, they don’t have the equipment necessary to make it happen, or a myriad of other factors. The very best organizations are those that are able to gather field intelligence detailing actual performance and factors driving the performance, and then institute corrective measures that enable the workforce to align their own performance with the vision of leadership.

So what does that mean for you if you are in an organization with a gap between your formal and informal cultures? We would first encourage you to perform a cultural analysis to get a better understanding of your informal culture. With this knowledge you will be able to understand what contextual factors are driving the performance of your employees. This information will allow you to initiate corrective measures to close the gap between your formal and informal cultures. The best organizations don’t make the mistake of simply focusing on changing people, they focus on the entire context to enable those on board to perform to a higher standard.

Effective Organizations Hold Everyone Accountable for Both Positive & Negative Results

Effective organizations know that accountability is a primary key to getting the results that are expected and therefore, success. Quite simply, people tend to focus on what is getting measured and this measurement serves to both motivate action and improve performance. To complicate matters, organizations that would not be described as "effective" also value accountability. They just don't value the same kind of accountability. Humans are hardwired with a sense of the value of accountability. From an early age, children often develop a hyper-sensitivity to justice. You might see them throw a temper tantrum over what they perceive to be "not fair." They also know what it means for someone to "get what they deserve." As we grow up and transition from the imaginary playground to our new bottom-line driven realities in the field or in the office, our language transitions as well, but the hardwiring remains. If we are not intentional, we risk missing the opportunity to become a part of an "Effective Organization" (or risk sounding childish). Our definition of accountability must mature along with us. Many people believe that accountability means to “punish” someone for failure. Punishment is only a minor part of the process and focusing on that minor part will limit your organization's exposure to the "grown up" benefits that result from a mature understanding of accountability.

So What is “Accountability” Anyway? It literally means “to account for ones actions” and therefore requires one to determine both “what” occurred (measurement) and “why” it occurred (cause). Effective organizational leaders know that the key to effective accountability is to understand “why” people do what they do and get the results that they get. Accordingly, they intentionally start the accountability process by determining “why” either success or failure occurred.

Effective organizational leaders understand that accountability is not an opportunity for “blame”, which is usually the result of someone committing the Fundamental Attribution Error, i.e., the tendency to attribute failure to personal characteristics such as motivation. They move beyond this type of error to evaluate the total context in which the person found themselves and therefore evaluate not only motivation, but also factors such as skill level, knowledge, peer and authority pressure, availability of resources or organizational systems such as policies and procedures. Only after a complete analysis has been done is causation determined and consequences delivered.

Positive & Negative Effective organizational leaders know that it is important to apply both positive and negative consequences as appropriate. They know that you strengthen desired behavior through the application of what psychologists call “reinforcement” and they use appropriate reinforcement for the level of success that has been observed. They also know that you weaken (reduce the chances of future reoccurrence) undesired behavior through the application of what psychologists refer to as “punishment” and they use appropriate punishment for the level of failure that has occurred.

"Do as I Say, Not as I Do?" Additionally, effective organizational leaders understand that they are being watched by organizational members to see if accountability is consistently applied across all organizational levels. Are they holding themselves accountable for their actions and results in the same manner that they are holding others accountable? Failure to show consistency in accountability (especially when punishment is called for) leads to a reduction in trust, morale and job satisfaction because it sends a mixed message to the organization. Leading by example helps to create trust, improved morale and job satisfaction and sets the stage for consistency throughout the organization.

What's the point?

Consistent, fair accountability, that is focused on fixing the causes of failure, is at the heart of organizational effectiveness.

Effective Organizations Model & Develop Facilitative-Relational Leadership throughout the Organization

In our 2012 Newsletter series, we took an in-depth look at the Top 20 Characteristics of a “Best Boss”. Our conclusion was that “Best Bosses” exemplify a leadership style that we call “Facilitative-Relational Leadership” (also referred to as “Transformational Leadership” by others [e.g., Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978; Zohar, 2002]). Facilitative-Relational Leaders focus on making it easier for employees to express their views and accomplish their objectives and they do so by manifesting the 20 characteristics that we have identified. Leaders of highly effective organizations understand that the type of leadership that they show and that they help develop throughout their organization can have a significant impact on results. Consequently, they work to personally model this style and simultaneously develop those skills in the larger management team throughout the organization.

So as a quick review, what are these characteristics?

1. Excellent communicator
2. Holds himself and others accountable for results
3. Enables success
4. Motivates others
5. Cares about the success of others
6. Honest and trustworthy
7. Shows trust by delegating effectively
8. Fair and consistent
9. Competent and knowledgeable
10. Rewards/recognizes success
11. Leads by example
12. Loyal to employees
13. Friendly
14. Good problem solver
15. Team builder
16. Flexible and willing to change when necessary
17. Good planner/organizer
18. Shows respect to others
19. Good decision maker
20. Deals effectively with conflict

By utilizing these skills, Facilitative-Relational Leaders attempt to develop a relationship with employees and other team members that creates an environment of safety, where others are willing to show initiative by speaking up and contributing to solutions. They attempt to consciously develop both the skills and the self-confidence of all employees. They evaluate decisions against the mission of the organization and are willing to change course if necessary.

Effective organizational leaders understand that Facilitative-Relational Leadership is almost always acquired as opposed to something you are born with, so they provide training and coaching opportunities for all managers to learn why this facilitative style is effective and how to use the skills successfully. They also give opportunities for managers/leaders to practice the skills with feedback so that they can effectively implement them in the workplace. Leaders of effective organizations also understand that people need feedback on both successes and failures, so they utilize both formal and informal opportunities to provide that feedback.

What's the point?

Facilitative-Relational Leadership is a package of characteristics and skills that, when utilized, significantly increase the success and effectiveness of organizations.

Effective Organizations Align, People, Systems, and Processes

For our 2013 Newsletter series, we have transitioned from a personal or micro-level focus, where we looked at what it means to be a "Best Boss", to an organizational or macro-level focus, where we will examine the characteristics of an "Effective Organization". In our first installment of the series we looked at how Effective Organizations: #1 - Clearly Define Mission, Values, Goals & Expectations.

The quest to build from scratch or transform your organization into one others would describe as "Effective" will prove costly if the process stops at quantifying, qualifying and communicating desired results. The essential next step is to ensure alignment of all the elements of the organization that will produce the desired results.

What is "Alignment"?

Alignment is simply ensuring that every aspect of the organization (people, teams, surroundings, and systems) works together to create desired results.

We have previously introduced the concept of “local rationality”; i.e., people make decisions to perform in various ways as a result of the local context in which they find themselves. This context includes factors such as Self (motivation, ability, knowledge, habits, attention, emotion), Others (help, pressure, modeling), Surroundings (equipment, climate, layout) and Systems (rules, rewards/punishments, procedures). The person’s view of that context will impact how they act, which will impact the results that they get. Effective organizational leaders understand this and work to create a context (sometimes called “culture”) that increases the chances that their employees will decide to perform in ways that lead to accomplishment of the organizational mission.

For example, when changing organizational policy on some issue like “incentive pay” (System), effective leaders will attempt to evaluate the impact of the policy on decision making at all organizational levels. If the policy provides incentive to produce at a higher rate, then it could lead to shortcuts in approved procedures and perhaps even create an incentive to cheat or perform in a less than safe manner. While increasing production, the policy would be “mis-aligned” with other desired results and thus become counter to overall organizational effectiveness.

Culture Alignment Diagnostics

We have had the opportunity to help leaders evaluate this type of alignment on several occasions. We call our process “Culture Alignment Diagnostics” and it involves three primary phases (Diagnosis, Design and Intervention).

Diagnosis

If not already done, we have senior management articulate their desired “formal” organizational culture by defining the values and behaviors that they feel will support accomplishment of their mission. We then review Systems (policies and procedures) and Surroundings in light of their alignment with the desired culture. This is followed by interviewing a cross-section of employees at all organizational levels and segments to determine the real “informal” culture that exist. This information allows us to determine if “alignment” currently exists between people, systems and process. We then deliver a report to senior management with our findings and recommendations.

Design

The results of the Diagnostic Phase will provide the information needed to guide the design of any necessary change. Few organizations have perfect alignment and therefore most require some changes to achieve alignment. Management determines what changes are needed and then they design a plan to make those changes.

Intervention

Every organization is different and thus needs different “interventions” to bring about the desired culture. Some organizations need training programs to impact employee knowledge and ability. Some need accountability systems to ensure consistent adherence to the desired cultural values and behaviors. Some need to change reporting structure. Once the plan has been determined, it is implemented and the appropriate changes will hopefully lead to greater alignment and thus greater effectiveness.

What's the point?

Whether you use a process like the one just described or not, continuous evaluation of alignment between formal and informal cultures is needed to remain or become an effective organization. This is especially true if your organization is not getting the results that are expected.

4 Steps to Influence Mission "Buy-in"

How can I influence employees to "buy-in" to the mission of the organization?  As we stated in our last newsletter, the mission of an organization “is its reason for existing, its purpose, where it is headed”.  People need to know, understand and “buy-in” to the mission so that they can “get on board” and help with its accomplishment.  But how can you get them “on board”?

Average organizations assume that people are on board when they read the mission statement, so they place signs and even plaques around their facilities, on the walls in conspicuous places, so that employees are always aware of the mission.  We call this “buy-in by proclamation” and it is a strategy that a lot of managers use when giving assignments and introducing change.  However, while awareness is essential, it is not sufficient for buy-in.

The key is to “influence”, not to dictate or merely proclaim.   Influence is not related to “power” but rather to understanding and therefore requires communication of the impact of accepting the mission and the individual’s role in its accomplishment.  This requires communication of something more than the mere mission statement.  It requires communication of the relationship of the organization’s mission to the success of the organization, the individual and society in general.  We recommend following a 4-step process in communicating these relationships.

• Articulate the importance of the mission to the success of the organization.
• Articulate the importance of the mission to the individual team members.
• Articulate the importance of the mission to society/customers.
• Communicate 1, 2 and 3.

While we could discuss these steps in the abstract, it might be helpful to use a specific example, so let’s use The RAD Group’s mission statement as that example.

“The RAD Group’s mission is to improve individual, team and organizational performance.  We seek to provide products and services that help leaders create a culture in which employees are skilled, motivated and able to serve all stakeholders - employees, investors/owners, customers and others.”

1.  Articulate the importance of the mission to the success of the organization.  This mission statement helps to guide our decision making relative to what products and services we develop.  Not all products and services fit with our mission and we only consider those that do.  Likewise, not all products and services that fit our mission are accepted or developed; only those that are deemed to contribute to both the success of our customers and the success of The RAD Group.

2.  Articulate the importance of the mission to the individual team members.  Every team member of The RAD Group understands that his/her success is in some part tied to the success of the organization.  Likewise, every team member understands how his/her performance impacts the success of every other team member and therefore, our ability to succeed as an organization.  Marketing impacts our image, research impacts the quality of the products and services that we develop and delivery impacts our reputation and impact on the performance of our customers.  The understanding of this connectedness increases the motivation of each of our team members to work toward the accomplishment of our mission.

3.  Articulate the importance of the mission to society/customers.  This may sound a bit lofty, but we need to understand that if our mission does not provide value to society, and especially our customers, that there is little or no reason to exist as an organization.  We believe that what we do provides value to our customers by improving their performance and we constantly challenge ourselves to both demonstrate and increase that value.

4.  Communicate 1, 2 and 3.  While we do attempt to communicate our mission formally through papers, speeches and marketing materials, communication does not have to only be formal.  It can be done through conversation with customers and within the organization by respectfully challenging and evaluating ideas to determine if they align with the mission.  We bring our mission statement to life, not by having it on a plaque (although we do have it on our business cards as a reminder), but rather by asking ourselves regularly if our products and services are improving the individual, team and organizational performance of our customers.  We also attempt to measure that impact to help us fine tune those products and services.

Dreaming of Greener Pasture

How do I find personal satisfaction in an organization that doesn't seem interested in being effective?

This is a very important question for all of those who have spent time working in seemingly heartless or meaningless organizations.  In January’s newsletter we defined an effective organization as one that meets its stated goals and accomplishes its stated mission.  But of course, by this definition, low goals and unimportant missions can create effectiveness and this would miss the point, therefore we add that effective organizations are those where the mission and goals are ones that people would want to invest in and/or participate in because they bring value to not only the individual, but also customers and society in general.

So what about the employee who is stuck in an organization that doesn’t seem to meet these criteria?  The easy answer is to simply quit and find a better organization.  While this may seem to be the prudent decision, is it the right one?  Let’s now refer back to the original question and focus on a key word in the question - “seem”.  Often times employees can only guess as to what their organization’s goals and mission may be because they have not been clearly articulated (our February Newsletter topic).  Until one clearly understands where leadership is wanting to take the organization, employees should not make bad guesses about their willingness to be effective.  This is where candid and frank conversation with leadership is critical to clearly understand the mission.

For argument’s sake, let’s make the assumption that the employee is actually working in an organization that simply has no intention of meeting our definition of an effective organization.  How do we find personal satisfaction without simply leaving for greener pastures?  At this point the employee needs to focus on what they can control and influence within the organization.  They have control over their own performance and influence over the performance of their team.  To this end, an objective setting and strategy exercise can help the person move toward higher satisfaction.  We would recommend that the employee set short, intermediate and long term objectives for themselves and, where possible, their team.  These objectives should meet five SMART criteria.

1. Specific
2. Measurable
3. Attainable
4. Relevant
5. Time Bound

Once we have SMART objectives in mind, the next step would be to create a task list which would take us step-by-step to the accomplishment of each objective.  The key to reaching our objective is to stick to the plan while measuring its effectiveness.  These measurements of effectiveness are critical to determining if we are on the right track.  If the measurements are in-line, we should continue on course until the objective is met.  If the measurements show that we are somehow failing, we need to either tweak the task list, or reassess the objective.

We find that those who focus on individual and team objectives, with a sound strategy for attaining and measuring, have greater satisfaction and better performance than those who simply go to work every day, counting the days until the next paycheck.  In the end, organizational effectiveness is impacted by both organizational mission and employee performance.  Not all of us have control or even influence over mission, but we all have considerable impact on our own performance and the objectives that we set can help improve that performance and ultimately our satisfaction.

Effective Organizations Clearly Define & Communicate Mission, Goals, Values & Expectations

Last month we shared the 11 topics that will make up our 2013 Newsletter Series - Characteristics of an Effective Organization. Top Down When we talk about effective organizations, we are really talking about organizational characteristics that have been created through the decisions and actions of upper management and then passed down through the organization to become part of the organization’s culture. So when we talk about clearly defining and communicating mission, goals, values and expectations we are talking about something that must come from the top.

Mission Let’s start with “mission”. An organization’s mission is its reason for existing, its purpose, where it is “headed”. People need to know the mission so that they can “get on board” and help with its accomplishment. The mission is usually defined and then communicated through a “mission statement” that has been thought out and clearly articulated by senior management.

For example, McDonald’s stated mission “is to be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat.” That is “why” they are in business. That is where they want to “go” so to speak. That is their direction.

Goals & Values This mission is pursued through the accomplishment of a set of clearly articulated goals and the application of a set of “values” that impact decision making. For example, McDonald’s states their values as centering “on an exceptional customer experience - People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. We are committed to continuously improving our operations and enhancing our customers’ experience”. They have additionally articulated a set of seven specific values that further clarify their overall values statement and guide the accomplishment of their mission.

McDonald's Values

• We place the customer experience at the core of all we do.
• We are committed to our people.
• We believe in the McDonald’s System.
• We operate our business ethically.
• We give back to our communities.
• We grow our business profitably.
• We strive continually to improve.

Formal & Informal Cultures The mission and values statement of an organization like McDonald’s is an attempt to articulate the desired “formal” culture of the organization, but only through clear articulation of expectations and followup on achievement of those expectations can an organization have an alignment of the informal culture with the desired formal culture of the organization. To read more, see our recent blog post "You Might Not Always Get What You Want."

Expectations Effective organizations and their leaders continuously evaluate movement toward the stated mission, in light of the stated goals and values, and then communicate their expectations of team and individual performance throughout the organization. As we will discuss in future newsletters, they also hold everyone accountable for meeting expectations and understand that clarity of expectations has a direct impact on a person’s ability to be successful.

What's the point?

In effective organizations, the mission, goals, values and expectations are not mere words on a plaque on the wall. Rather, they are a way of life, understood by every team member. They are the catalyst for moving the organization toward greatness.

11 Characteristics of An "Effective Organization"

Our 2012 Newsletter series focused on the Top 20 Characteristics of a “Best Boss” and we described in some detail how these individuals come to be seen in this light by their employees. This year, we will focus at a more macro-level and evaluate what it takes to be seen as an “Effective Organization”. Effective Defined “Effective” can be defined in many different ways, and an agreed upon definition has eluded organizational researchers for decades. In light of this, we will need to begin our discussion with a definition that, hopefully, we can all agree on to some extent. Simply put, an "Effective Organization" is one that meets its stated goals and accomplishes its stated mission. But of course, by this definition, low goals and unimportant missions can create effectiveness and this would miss the point.

We view "Effective Organizations" as those where the mission and goals are ones that people would want to invest in and/or participate in because they bring value to not only the individual, but also customers and society in general. They are viewed as “High Performance Organizations” because they are considered more successful than their competitors in areas such as profitability, customer service and strategy. In other words, they are effective at getting results that are seen as superior and valuable to others.

The Next 11 Issues Our discussion over the next 11 months will focus on some of the characteristics of these types of effective organizations, which by the way are found in both for profit and not for profit organizations. So what are the characteristics that we will be discussing this year? While this list is probably not complete, both our experience and the research of others supports each of these as a component of an effective organization.

The order of appearance of each characteristic is not reflective of our view of it’s importance; only that it is necessary for an organization to become really effective. So here are our topics for 2013.

An "Effective Organization":

#1 -- clearly defines and communicates mission/goals/values/expectations

#2 -- aligns all aspects of the organization including people, systems and processes

#3 -- models and develops Facilitative Leadership throughout the organization

#4 -- holds everyone accountable with both positive and negative consequences for results

#5 -- builds a collaborative and empowered environment based upon teamwork

#6 -- tolerates appropriate risk taking and learns from both success and failure in an attempt to be innovative

#7 -- focuses on meeting customer expectations and needs

#8 -- creates a culture based on honesty, integrity and mutual respect

#9 -- identifies meaningful measurements and timely feedback

#10 -- insists on open communication throughout the organization, and

#11 -- is resilient; capitalizes on adversity.

As we discuss the characteristics of effective organizations, we would challenge you to evaluate your organization in light of these characteristics, just as many of you did for your own personal leadership performance in 2012.

Hopefully, our discussion will help you move your organization and/or team toward increased effectiveness, no matter where you are at present.

The Positive Side of Conflict

We usually treat conflict like a pest - a plague on organizational efficiency and effectiveness.  It disrupts operations, sours cultures and inhibits collaboration.  But is it always and entirely bad?  We suggest that there are two overlooked sides to conflict that, if managed correctly, can be harnessed for good and give your organization a boost:

1. Conflict gives rise to conversations about "undiscussables".  These are things that silently constrain healthy interaction among employees and that need to be resolved, but are considered minor enough that they do not outweigh the risk associated with trying to resolve them.  For example, employees might perceive that leadership does not respect their contributions.  This would normally be a topic of conversation that employees choose to avoid when in the company of the organization's leaders because, while bothersome, it is not so severe a problem that it warrants "rocking the boat."  When conflict arises, though, there are usually strong emotions involved and the parties will bring up issues such as this, which, in more sober moments, would be considered "undiscussable."  It then becomes the responsibility of the leader to take the opportunity to learn from the conflict driven discussion and make changes that will lead to increased productivity within their team.

2. Differences in opinion (conflict) can also fuel productive creativity.  Substantial research by Dr. Charlan Nemeth has demonstrated that, when people disagree, they put significantly more effort into supporting their positions.  In other words, we think through, develop and vet our own ideas much more thoroughly when we have to defend them against countervailing pressures.  Conflict among individuals can present such countervailing pressure and therefore increase analysis of ideas and lead to more positive discussion and thus increased creativity.  It goes without saying that such increased creativity can, when managed effectively also lead to organizational improvement and innovation.

Unfortunately, conflict is usually a destructive force in organizations.  People disagree, emotions elevate and the social bonds that keep organizations operating effectively begin to dissolve.  When unmanaged, this is what most conflict creates, but we have proposed that conflict has a positive side.  It presents us with an opportunity.  The key, of course, is for the conflict to be handled well.  When people (1) understand the anatomy of conflict - how and why it fuels emotional fires and spirals out of control - and (2) possess the skills to redirect conflict into healthy conversations, conflict becomes a uniquely positive force on organizations.

A Best Boss Is a Good Decision Maker & Deals Effectively with Conflict

Over the course of 2012, the world-wide media has interviewed, polled, analyzed, and dissected countless opinions and agendas with respect to the characteristics and qualifications, both desired from and previously demonstrated by, the various candidates for global leadership from Cairo to Washington and Athens to Beijing.During this same time, we, here at The RAD Group, have been broadcasting our own analysis of the characteristics we hope to see in today's leaders. Our Best Boss series has had one simple agenda and we hope you have found it valuable.

Our analysis will impact the results you are seeing wether you are a newly elected Prime Minister, a CEO, a night shift supervisor, or mom or dad. We believe that you and the other leaders in your organization can improve performance by listening to what your employees have been telling us over the last 20+ years. We asked thousands of participants in our performance management classes to describe the best boss they ever had. Though our polls are not closed, we feel confident to announce the results.

A "Best Boss":

#1 -- is a good communicator #2 -- holds himself and others accountable for results #3 -- enables success #4 -- motivates others #5 -- cares about the success of others #6 -- is honest and trustworthy #7 -- shows trust by delegating effectively #8 -- is fair and consistent #9 -- competent and knowledgeable #10 -- rewards / recognizes success #11 -- leads by example #12 -- is loyal to employees #13 -- is friendly #14 -- is a good problem solver #15 -- is a team builder #16 -- is flexible and willing to change when necessary #17 -- is a good planner / organizer and #18 -- shows respect to others.

This month we close out the series with a look at how a Best Boss:

#19 -- is a good decision maker and #20 -- deals effectively with conflict.

A Good Decision Maker

Scores of books and articles have been written on the best way to make decisions and many of the processes described include valuable assistance for decision makers. In actuality, we are all decision makers and make decisions many times each day. Some decisions are just more important than others, in that they can lead to more significant (both positive and negative) consequences.

Understand the Facts The key to good decision making is a complete (or as complete as time and information allow) understanding of the facts and potential consequences of each possible decision. Without question it involves an examination of any and all ethical consequences of the decision. For simple decisions, little or no input from others may be needed. These are the routine daily decisions that don’t require a lot of “buy-in” for execution to occur. But complex, high impact decisions are different.

As we have said several times before in previous newsletters, getting input from team members and other experts is invaluable when gathering facts, understanding consequences and making the final decision.

Recruit Help Best Bosses understand that they can’t have all of the information, knowledge and experience needed to make all important decisions, so they recruit help. They treat important decision making as a team-based problem solving exercise. Once they have gathered the relevant information, they then “pull the trigger”, make the decision and then stand behind both the decision and the team.

Prepare for the Next Decision If success follows a decision, Best Bosses share the “glory” with the team and if “failure” follows, they accept responsibility and go to work determining why the failure occurred so that it won’t happen again. In other words, they engage in team-based problem solving to correct the failure. Regardless of the outcome, how the boss responds to the results of a decision making process will dramatically impact the ability to recruit help next time, the willingness of recruits to communicate facts and consequences, and the confidence with which future decisions will be executed.

Deals Effectively with Conflict

Conflict is a naturally occurring issue anytime you have people working or living together. We define conflict as unresolved differences of opinion or perceptions regarding some issue. Conflict by definition is required for improvement and innovation to occur and is completely healthy if managed correctly.

Foster Positive Conflict Best Bosses understand the value of conflict and foster opportunities for conflict-based conversation that leads to creative improvement. Best Bosses also know that conflict can lead to reduced productivity, quality, safety, etc. and work to keep unhealthy conflict to a minimum.

Collaboration and Communication Best Bosses keep unhealthy conflict to a minimum by understanding that the best way to resolve conflict is through collaboration. Collaboration requires an understanding of the problem solving process and how to communicate by listening effectively before any decision concerning action is taken. All parties must have the opportunity to “state their positions”, but must also be “respectful” enough to listen to the other person to gain a complete understanding of their position. Best Bosses create an environment of respectful openness where disagreement is encouraged and the skills to collaboratively resolve conflict are learned by every team member.

Best Boss Bottom Line - Series Finale

We have created a name for best bosses; we call them “Facilitative Relational Leaders”. Facilitation is defined as the accomplishment of results by making it easier for other people to express their views and achieve their objectives. Relational is demonstrating respect and care for others. The skills and characteristics identified in our research are the same skills needed to facilitate and build relationships. You may have noticed that the Best Boss skills/characteristics tend to tie together and demonstration of one involves application of others. Best Bosses understand this and continuously attempt to improve in the use of each of the skills that we have been discussing. Maybe it is time for you to evaluate or re-evaluate where you stand.

The Secret to Conflict Resolution -- Stop Compromising

We hear the word “compromise” anytime we turn on the TV or read a newspaper article about how the U.S. Congress should fix our fiscal woes.  Talking heads and Joe Public alike beg for more compromise to fix the situation.  Is it possible that compromise is what is putting us in such a predicament?  Compromise is based on giving up something you want, thus it is based on “losing”.  As that term suggests, I give a little, you give a little, and we meet somewhere in the middle at an agreement.  While compromise sounds like the best way to get unstuck, it actually leaves both parties feeling unsatisfied, almost as if they gave up too much.

To truly resolve conflict we suggest another “C” word -- “Collaboration”.  To collaborate, two or more parties must brainstorm ideas to fix a problem.  The goal, in the end, is to walk away with a solution that is more likely to truly “fix” the situation over which the parties were at odds to begin with.  The process is really pretty easy.  First, the two parties must come to an agreement on a goal that they both want to achieve.  Once that goal is agreed on, they brainstorm ways to get them to their shared goal.  No giving up one’s beliefs or buying into the other guy’s beliefs, simply agreed upon strategies that can get both parties what they have agreed that they both want.  The task then is to choose one solution that both parties have already agreed will achieve the common goal.

Let’s look at an actual conflict that shows how this works.  There was a state in the Southern U.S. that was having violent clashes between Pro-Choice and Pro-Life groups.  The state’s governor knew he must do something before more violence led to somebody’s death.  He told his assistant that he wanted the leadership of both groups to meet with him so they could come to some sort of agreement to stop the violence.  His assistant, thinking the governor had lost his mind, questioned if getting these two groups together in the same room was wise, but the governor insisted.

When the meeting did occur, both sides were at each other’s throats from the moment they arrived in the meeting room.  The governor eventually created calm so that he could address the restless crowd.  What he told them was surprising even to is staff.  He said, “As you all know, we have a significant teen pregnancy problem in our state.  We rank 49^th out of the 50 states in teen pregnancies and 50^th in the number of teenaged abortions.  What I need from you is to help me solve this problem.  I need your ideas for cutting back the rate of teen pregnancy so that we can cut the number of abortions in the state.”  Both sides instantly changed their demeanor.  After all, the vast majority of abortions are performed on teenaged mothers.  If they could solve that problem, their debate would become moot.

For the next few weeks both sides met and came up with a strategy to lower the pregnancy rate of girls in their state.  They worked together, civilly to reach a common goal, and in the end, they lowered the teen aged pregnancy rate over 50% in their state.

How about you, how does this work in your world?  Can you find a common goal to work towards rather than trying to determine what you are willing to give up, and therefore feeling unsatisfied?  Stop compromising when you are at odds with your co-worker, spouse, or neighbor and find a way to create an action plan that gets you both to a mutual goal.  If only they understood this in Washington.

A Best Boss Is Flexible and Willing to Change When Necessary, Is a Good Planner/Organizer, & Shows Respect to Others

The holiday season brings us to the final two installments of the Top 20 Characteristics of a Best Boss. As you prepare for the potential stress of family and out of town guests, take the time to look back at the characteristics we have described so far and imagine how they might influence your relationships with friends and family. #1 -- is a good communicator #2 -- holds himself and others accountable for results #3 -- enables success #4 -- motivates others #5 -- cares about the success of others #6 -- is honest and trustworthy #7 -- shows trust by delegating effectively #8 -- is fair and consistent #9 -- competent and knowledgeable #10 -- rewards / recognizes success #11 -- leads by example #12 -- is loyal to employees #13 -- is friendly #14 -- is a good problem solver and #15 -- is a team builder.

This month we will examine how a Best Boss:

#16 -- is flexible and willing to change when necessary #17 -- is a good planner / organizer and #18 -- shows respect to others.

Flexible and Willing to Change When Necessary

“I’m the boss and we will do it my way” is not something you would hear from a Best Boss. That being said, this a common expression heard in many workplaces and a powerful undertone in the culture of many of the organizations that don't necessarily say it out loud. The consequences of this expressed or implied sentiment are dramatic, the least of which include employee apathy, disengagement and a potentially profit forfeiting reduction in creativity.

Fear of Losing Control One of the fundamental issues is that some managers/supervisors view flexibility as a sign of weakness. Common expressions like "give them an inch and they will take a mile" and "too many chiefs and not enough indians" reinforce the belief that the supervisor must exhert unquestionable authority or risk losing control. Quite the contrary, it is often the rigid dictator that incites the desire for revolution.

Fear of not Knowing all the Answers Another driving force in the tendency toward rigidity is that many supervisors don’t want to admit that they don’t have all of the answers. I once heard a really great manager say “I am willing to learn from anyone, even the newest person on the team because they don’t have the years of bias that I have.” If you remember that the job of a supervisor is to get results from the efforts of others, it only makes sense that you would leverage the creative brains of others to get results as well. Flexibility does not mean giving in to all suggestions but rather is the willingness to entertain other views and make decisions on the basis of that evaluation.

Flexibilty & Problem Solving The ability to apply the problem solving skills that we discussed in our October Newsletter is critical to becoming flexible. Good team-based problem solvers will have the opportunity to seek input from team members and then collaborate with them on solutions, thus making flexibility much easier to demonstrate. Repeated practice with collaborative problem solving will reinforce the desire to be flexible as you observe the solution optimizing benefits of additional perspectives.

A Good Planner / Organizer

Planning/Organizing, problem solving and time management go hand-in-hand.

Expectations Good bosses know that their team members need direction so that they will know “what” is expected of them. They must have a clear understanding of the results that they must achieve. A good plan, especially as the result of collaboration, will provide those expectations for each team member.

Reading from the Same Page It really doesn’t matter if the plan is the result of problem solving or simply daily work objectives, the resulting product is the same, namely a plan that everyone understands and supports.

Time and Priorities Additionally, team members must have a clear understanding of “when” those results are expected. This is where time management comes in. Best Bosses help set priorities as part of the planning process. They gather information about the current action items for each team member and then in concert they prioritize them. This helps the team member control his/her time and as a result manage their personal stress.

Shows Respect to Others

What is respect anyway? Respect is defined as “a feeling of admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.” So showing respect is a demonstration of this definition in some way.

Listen to Show Respect How does a person “show respect” to another? If your answer is “by listening to the other person” then you are in agreement with just about everyone to whom we have asked this question over the last 30-years. Listening does not require that you “respect” every “ability, quality or achievement” of the person, but it does require some very important skills.

You may recall that we discussed listening in detail in the "Good Communicator" installment that kicked-off this newsletter series.

The key is to genuinely show interest in the other person through how you listen with both your words (questions) and with your body language.

Delegation Additionally, the skills that you use as you delegate to your team members demonstrates that you respect their “abilities, qualities and achievements” and allows you to “respectfully” help them improve in those areas where improvement is needed. To refresh your memory, check out some of the blog topics we have written on Delegation. Best Boss Bottom Line

You may have noticed that these three skills are related in that flexibility, planning and respect all require that you listen effectively. Make sure that this is your top priority and you will have a much better chance of being seen as a “Best Boss”.

A Best Boss Is a Good Problem Solver & Team Builder

Through the first nine installments of this series, we have seen that a 'Best Boss': #1 -- is a good communicator #2 -- holds himself and others accountable for results #3 -- enables success #4 -- motivates others #5 -- cares about the success of others #6 -- is honest and trustworthy #7 -- shows trust by delegating effectively #8 -- is fair and consistent #9 -- competent and knowledgeable #10 -- rewards / recognizes success #11 -- leads by example #12 -- is loyal to employees and #13 -- is friendly.

This month we will examine how a Best Boss:

#14 -- is a good problem solver and

#15 -- is a team builder.

You may have heard it said that “if this job was easy, everyone would be doing it.” It’s true. In reality, supervision, management, leadership and other roles defined by the ability to produce desired results through the efforts of others is genuinely difficult. The job of supervision is a minefield full of problems and people. The corporate battlefield is littered with human resource casualties and lost productivity and profits from the scores of “supervisors” that just weren’t Best Bosses.

The best bosses, the ones described in our research, thrive in complex and challenging environments and are often described by those they have influenced over their careers as good problem solvers and good team builders. These two characteristics clearly work in tandem. A problem solved by “Throwing the team under the bus” does not qualify for best boss status. Nor does building a great team of lifelong friends that consistently fail to solve the problems they face. These two characteristics go together.

Good Problem Solver

Best Bosses are not only good at solving problems, but they are good at teaching their employees how to solve problems. They understand that employee’s who can recognize problems and then bring thought-out solutions to the table are much more likely to take initiative and exhibit creativity in other ways.

While not all supervisors use/teach the same problem solving techniques, most keep it simple and focus on no more that 5-steps.

These 5-steps usually include:

Problem Identification

Knowing that you have a problem is the first step and this involves the monitoring of results relative to standards, listening to coworkers, clients, etc. In other words, it involves the identification of “pain”.

Problem Exploration

Best Bosses know that problems can arise for a multitude of reasons and make sure that they have evaluated each possibility before deciding on a solution. They also involve their team members in this evaluation because it both teaches and increases the chances that the “real reason(s)” will be identified.

Objective Setting

Best bosses know that well stated objectives will increase the chances that an effective plan will be created. They therefore ensure that every objective is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART).

Action Plan Development

As important as development of a workable plans is, ownership of the plan is equally important. Best bosses involve the appropriate team members in plan development to both create the best plan possible and to increase the willingness of the team to implement the plan effectively.

Measurement and Correction (as necessary)

If the objective is stated correctly, then measurement is simply the evaluation of the results against the stated objective.

If failure occurs, then best bosses avoid blame and begin the problem solving process all over again to make sure that each step was completed successfully.

While best bosses are skillful at solving problems, they are equally skillful at involving team members in the solution process.

Team Builder

Best bosses know that success is more a function of team work than it is individual skill, so they work just as hard to develop team work as they do to develop individual skills.

Team building first requires bosses to assess their team’s interaction so that they can determine what if anything is creating less than desired teamwork. There are five critical issues related to teamwork that all best bosses evaluate on a regular basis. The specific team building plan will be driven by this evaluation.

How well do the team members get along on an interpersonal level?

• It is not necessary that team member become best friends, but civility and courtesy are a requirement for having a successful team.
• Best bosses are quick to identify any conflict within the team, determine the cause(s) of that conflict, and address those causes effectively.

Do team members work together to accomplish tasks or do they compete with one another?

• While competition is appropriate at some levels, it is never appropriate within a team.
• Competition leads to someone winning at the expense of another team member and this almost always leads to the desire to get even.
• Best bosses know this and create an environment where teamwork is recognized and competition is eliminated or at least minimized.
• Best bosses also know that their attention or lack of it can lead to competition, so they make sure that attention and recognition is provided equally within the team and is not contingent on being better than each other.

Do they share information with each other?

• Failure to share information within a team can be the result of several issues, only one of which is keeping information to increase power or position.
• Much of the time failure to share information is simply due to forgetting to do so, not realizing that the information is needed by others, or not having the opportunity to do so.
• Best bosses make sure that all team members understand their role in information sharing and create an environment where information hoarding is not allowed and certainly not reinforced.

Do they provide support for one another when under pressure to get the job done?

• Best bosses know that high levels of stress negatively impacts an individual’s ability to perform and also reduces the desire to work together on issues.
• They also know that they have a lot of influence on the stress level within the team by the way that they manage time and stress for both themselves and for their team members.
• Best bosses also know that increasing skills through training can help reduce the negative impact of stress on a team, therefore they spend time helping employees develop the skills needed to respond more effectively when stress increases.

Do they focus on solving problems or on blaming each other when problems arise?

• While blame seems to be a natural human response when problems arise, it is really a response to the prediction that the person will receive blame him/herself.
• Best Bosses understand that if they focus on “why” the failure occurred rather than “who” failed they will then avoid contributing to the development of a blame culture within the team.
• Best bosses understand that if they don’t pass blame, they will reduce the need for blame to occur within the team and this will lead to the development of better problem solutions.

Best bosses know that failure in one or more of the areas above can lead to decreased teamwork, decreased productivity and failure to achieve results.

Best Boss Bottom Line

Problems don’t solve themselves nor do teams build themselves, rather it takes someone in charge to see to these efforts. Even more so, it takes a Best Boss to see to these efforts sustainably. Fail to both deliberately solve problems and intentionally build your team and you might have a short life on the corporate battlefield. Strive instead to build a team capable of tackling obstacles effectively using all of the resources they collectively bring to the fight.

Your Culture Gap is Showing

The Gap between your Formal and Informal Cultures is as simple as 'Follow the Leader' Companies often express frustration that their operations fail to live up to the standards set forth for itself.  These companies are essentially describing gaps between their formal (company standard) and informal (what actually happens) cultures.  While many factors contribute to this gap, such as communication, size, number of locations and hiring practices, maybe the single most prevalent force in driving informal culture is the behavior of front line managers and supervisors.

One important characteristics of a “Best Boss” is leading by example.  On the surface, this seems like a straightforward and common characteristic of many bosses, but let’s look deeper.  How does the significance of this characteristic extend beyond just the personal esteem in which we hold the boss to the point that it actually impacts the success of the entire organization?

A workplace is an extremely complex and dynamic organism and the workers themselves will only act in ways that make sense to them in the moment.  If the actions of supervisors suggest that certain behaviors are acceptable, even if they fly in the face of company policy, the employees will be prompted to act in the same manner as their leader.  Even worse, if the boss is allowed to pick and choose which rules to follow, he or she is giving unspoken permission for others to do the same.

Let’s look at a specific example.  There is a manufacturing company that has very high safety standards, including the proper use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).  The plant manager is well known to show up on the manufacturing floor wearing his Nike training shoes and a hat of his favorite football team.  While he may try to justify not wearing PPE in his own mind, what he fails to recognize is the precedent he is setting for the workforce.  After all, if the boss can wear his tennis shoes on the plant floor, why can’t the others?  Not only is he not modeling the proper standard, he has now set the precedent that the standards themselves are simply suggestions and not to be taken seriously.

Some of you may be asking yourself, “but what if I make a simple mistake and now I’m leading the entire team down the wrong road?”  There is actually no better time to demonstrate the characteristic of leading by example than when you make a mistake.  Simply stating your mistake and the steps that you are going to take to rectify the situation shows that you do in fact care about the standards of the company, and most importantly, that you are willing to hold yourself accountable to the standards.  The resulting impact on informal culture is that the formal culture will be seen as worthy of being embraced and that everyone is able - especially leaders - and prepared to redirect and be redirected for performance that doesn't match the desired culture.

We won’t go into detail in this post about what leaders do to redirect bad performance, in themselves or others, but you can click here to read an archived newsletter on that topic.

A Best Boss Leads by Example, Is Loyal to Employees, & Is Friendly

To recap the series, so far we have seen that a 'Best Boss': #1 -- is a good communicator #2 -- holds himself and others accountable for results #3 -- enables success #4 -- motivates others #5 -- cares about the success of others #6 -- is honest and trustworthy #7 -- shows trust by delegating effectively #8 -- is fair and consistent #9 -- competent and knowledgeable and #10 -- rewards / recognizes success.

This month we will look at:

#11 -- leads by example #12 -- is loyal to employees and #13 -- is friendly.

Combined, these three characteristics of a Best Boss help create workplace climate. It makes a lot of sense that the factors that make up workplace climate would make the list when we asked employees to describe the best boss they ever had. The saying goes that, "People don't quit companies, they quit people." The flip side of this is true as well. When employees talk about loving to work for a great company, they are really describing that they love working in a great work climate. That work climate is created, intentionally or unintentionally, by people -- by bosses. As we look closer at each of these characteristics, reflect back on your own work climate experiences. Better yet, examine the one you are creating or experiencing right now.

Leads By Example

Have you ever heard the statement “Do as I say, not as I do”? It's hard to imagine being motivated to follow the leadership of someone who is not willing to apply the same rules/expectations to him/herself that are placed on the rest of the team. As a supervisor (or parent) we always set an example for someone and it is either a good example or a bad example. In the workplace that example helps to create the expectations that our team members have. Those expectations help to determine the workplace climate in which your team operates.

Bosses, to a very large extent, set the workplace climate through what they say and what they do. Workplace climate includes all the rules of conduct and operation including those formal and written (policy and procedure) and those informal and unwritten (what is acceptable). If a boss works outside the written rules, then the communication is that it is really alright for everyone else to do so, too. Best Bosses understand their role in determining the “real” workplace climate and therefore strive to always set an example of adherence to the written policies and procedures as they expect their team members to do also.

The workplace is inherently complex and stressful enough without the compounding effects of frustration and resentment that accompany a perception of organizational or leadership hypocrisy. Ultimately, there is no amount of personal utility, comfort or privilege that outweighs the detriment to work climate from not "walking the walk."

Loyal to Employees

Loyalty is defined as faithfulness to commitments and obligations that one has to another person or group, so Best Bosses honor the commitments and obligations that they have made to their team members. But how is this loyalty shown?

• It does not mean “turning a blind eye to failure” and
• It does not mean supporting team members with upper management when the team member has defiantly violated policy.
• It does mean supporting team members when the team member has done everything that they were expected to do, but failure occurred anyway.
• It does mean defending team members when they are challenged by other leaders about their efforts and results when the team member has met the boss' communicated expectations.
• It does mean defending team members when they are not present and can’t defend themselves. Best Boss loyalty is not blind but it is fair and dependable as long as it is deserved.

Friendly

Some people think “weak” when they hear that a boss is “friendly”, but this is not what we mean by this term at all. Friendly simply means “not hostile or antagonistic” to their team members. Best Bosses are not usually “best friends” with their team members and they certainly don’t put themselves in positions where they could show favoritism.

Best Bosses understand the difference between being serious about results and showing concern about those things that are of concern to each team member. They take the time to listen to those concerns and to help team members evaluate approaches to dealing with them. They show appropriate humor and never demean a team member either to his/her face or behind his/her back. Friendly simply means creating a relationship that helps to make it easier for each team member to express their concerns and ideas while accomplishing their agreed upon objectives.

Best Boss Bottom Line

Workplace climate is critical to effectiveness and to a large extent is determined by what the boss does, how he treats and supports his/her team members and the relationship that is developed with each person.

Four Keys to Managing Outside of Your Area of Technical Competence

When we ask newly promoted, first-time supervisors why they got their supervisory job, they almost always say it was because they were really good at getting technical results in their last job.  In other words, they became supervisors because they were very technically competent.

But what happens when people progress in management and find themselves managing people who are much more technically competent than they are?  What if they are totally out of their area of technical competence?  How do they manage under these conditions?  Do they admit their lack of technical competence or “fake it until they make it”?

Has this happened to you?  Is it possible that it might happen at some point in your career?  To help you answer these questions, we offer you four keys to success when managing outside of your area of technical competence.

1. Honestly evaluate your competencies.  We can’t all know everything so an honest evaluation of your competencies will help you identify where you either need help from others or where you need to seek education for yourself.  I can honestly say that I am not competent when it comes to development of websites or just about anything IT.   I also know that my time is much better spent not taking a lot of time attempting to become proficient in this area.  I have made the decision to delegate this area to someone else; someone with a lot more competence than I have, which leads to Key #2.
2. Seek the support of those who are competent.  You can’t “fake it” for long and when you are discovered your credibility and influence will most likely be reduced.   There is no shame in admitting that you don’t know how to do something or how to do it well.  Look for those on your team who have the competency or competencies needed and delegate to them, while at the same time attempting to gain an appropriate level of competence for yourself.  I know there are some computer programs that I need the ability to navigate and use in my daily activities.  For these I have taken the time to gain proficiency.  Everything else IT is delegated with delight!
3. Show thanks for the support of others.  People need to feel appreciated and showing thanks for the competencies of others on your team is important to the development of respect and relationship.  Make sure you thank those who help you gain competencies or who take away the need for you to do so by handling it themselves.  This is exactly what I have done with many of my IT needs and I always try to remember to show gratitude to those who take on this role.
4. Use ‘Best Boss’ skills to manage.  Use the same skills that thousands of our students have consistently identified over the last 20 years when asked to describe the best boss they ever had.  Your employees will likely give you the benefit of the doubt while you seek to grow in technical competence, if they have already experienced the benefits of your non-technical competence.  To help you with this, we will continue throughout 2012 to use The RAD Group Newsletter to explore the Top 20 Characteristics of a ‘Best Boss‘.  To refresh your memory, revisit the ‘Best Boss’ Newsletter Archive and keep an eye on your email inbox for future editions.

No boss can know everything.  ‘Best Bosses’ know that their primary responsibility is not to be competent in all of the technical aspects under their control, but rather to surround themselves with competent people and treat them with respect.