Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network

submitted by: Don Hertkorn, EXEC CONSULTING

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Create the right organizational climate and help people succeed

People have an enormous capability to perform. Unfortunately, all too often an owner, executive, manager, or supervisor holds them back. The restrictions relate to a failure to develop a positive environment and sound leadership practices. As leaders, you can “unleash the power of people” by focusing on seven elements to create the right organizational CLIMATE and on seven actions to help people SUCCEED. Implementation of the concepts summarized by these two acronyms — CLIMATE and SUCCEED — can guide a leader in developing a high-performance organization. The following touch on each point and invites you to develop the concepts as they apply to your particular situation.

Customers – our reason for being

Business is essentially serving people by performing a task or supplying a product. Everyone in an organization must realize that there is no need for that business if there are no customers. When problems arise, it is imperative to remember that the customer is always right (even when he or she is wrong). If you have built relationships by talking to customers in a friendly and upbeat manner, addressing them by name, knowing their preferences, and making them feel important, then it will be easier to handle complaints and approach them as an opportunity to reinforce a customer’s loyalty. Welcome any feedback and use it to improve service.

Leadership – guiding and nurturing success

This specific aspect of leadership addresses the big picture that has a pervasive effect on the organization’s climate. If a leader defines an organization by clearly stating its vision, values, and goals and develops a positive culture with open communication, the staff will be positioned to make a meaningful contribution. That last sentence describes a huge undertaking that, if done properly, will yield huge rewards. Disseminating these big picture issues throughout the organization can be most effective when leaders “walk the talk” and practice “management by walking around”. Also, leaders should reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, and management style to identify opportunities to improve effectiveness.

Improvement – continuously seeking to do better

Whether seeking radical improvement through re-engineering or incremental improvement through Total Quality Management, the key is to instill a continuous improvement mindset in every person in the organization. Don’t buy into the saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. It is a myth. Striving to implement “best practices” and then maintaining that status requires a proactive approach. There is no standing still…only gaining or losing ground versus the competition.

More Risks – courage to venture “out of the box”

To realize higher rewards for the organization, a leader must encourage taking calculated risks so that people are willing to accept the inherent risks that come with out of the box thinking. People have to feel confident to stretch and not play it safe. When a leader moves in this direction, he or she has to expect more failures. However, failures in higher risk instances can often yield better results than being successful in less aggressive endeavors. For example, striving to improve profits by 20% and falling short by 5% is still better than making a less challenging goal of 10%. To encourage risk-taking, a leader should consider rewarding failures (even when they don’t turn out as favorable as the example) as long as the risk was reasonable and not careless or haphazard. As a means of driving the point home, a leader might use the phrase “if you are not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough”.

Attitude – I have a choice everyday regarding my attitude

Public speaker and radio show personality Dr. Charles Swindoll once wrote “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it”. Instilling the proper attitude in the members of the organization is one of the single most important acts of a leader. Adopting Swindoll’s approach shifts the focus from negativity, blame, faultfinding, or excuses to one of searching for what I can do to make a positive difference. Displaying a “can do” attitude is infectious and the organization can really feel a power surge.

Teamwork – working together to maximize results

A leader must put a high value on the importance of the organization’s success over the individual’s or the basic instinct to seek personal recognition will dominate. The question individuals should ask themselves is “what can I do to help the team accomplish its goals?” In the sports world, it is easy to see the impact of teamwork. In the business world, it is just as important. Effective leaders will practice and encourage behavior that promotes teamwork. A good leader builds up people, rewards team accomplishments, and discourages tearing down individuals.

Effectiveness – doing the right thing right the first time.

The positive attributes of being effective, efficient, and productive are bundled in this statement. Too many short cuts and quick fixes can eat away at an organization’s effectiveness. When stressing effectiveness, a leader should emphasize the need to think of the short and long-range impact on others when considering an action. Also, people must communicate clearly to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

By focusing on the above seven elements, a leader can create the right organizational CLIMATE. Now a leader also must help people to SUCCEED and achieve their potential by taking the following seven actions.

Selecting – assigning the right person to the right job

Whether hiring, promoting, or transferring employees, it is critical to select the right person. Investing the time and effort required to make a good placement will pay dividends for years. A leader should consider the impact on the job, peers, team, and organization as well as the individual. Try to address current and future requirements. Where teamwork is vital, the leader must create the right team mix by integrating strengths, weaknesses, skills, and personalities to complement each other.

Understanding – caring about the staff’s personal well-being

People become committed when they feel that their leader empathizes with their personal concerns and is looking out for their best interests. A leader helps develop these feelings on a daily basis by showing an interest in people’s jobs, accomplishments, families, hobbies, etc. Communicating openly and honestly while minimizing secrecy engenders trust. Hearing, responding to, and valuing feedback, ideas, and concerns encourage people to contribute freely. While you cannot give everyone everything they want, you can show an appreciation for where they are coming from. That does not require agreement, only respect.

Challenging – daring people to perform and grow

Leaders should set stretch objectives that are difficult and may even appear unreasonable. If the organizational climate rewards risk taking, people will be less apprehensive about accepting the challenge. The prize should be commensurate with the risk and the outcome. When setting objectives, you should consider job and outside activities (e.g., continuing education) while addressing company and personal growth goals. People have a tendency to rise to the occasion and display the creativity and determination to succeed.

Coaching – providing feedback, guidance, and mentoring

Reviewing performance regularly and giving constructive feedback are basic requirements. Mentoring and guiding development and career growth enhance the process but still can result in people falling short of realizing their potential. A leader who creates and takes advantage of “coaching moments” can accelerate and increase the development. This entails stopping shortly after an event to reflect on what just happened, analyze what went right or wrong, and identify how to improve performance in the future. This is not a critique but a learning experience.

Empowering – delegating authority and expecting accountability

People can perform best when given the responsibility and having the latitude to work effectively. Leaders should encourage employees to keep assuming responsibility until told otherwise. After delegating authority, you must accept the fact that things might not be done in the same way or as well as you could do it. However, in the long run, the organization will be stronger if you show patience and tolerance while people are early on the learning curve.

Energizing – acknowledging effort and performance

Acknowledgement is a powerful motivator. A leader should not miss an opportunity to recognize small and large contributions informally and formally. You can start with a simple “thank you” or “good job” or “I appreciate your efforts”. This cannot be overdone. When you reward achievements, ensure that the reward is timely, appropriate, and meaningful. Just as important and frequently overlooked is the need to address poor performance. Failure for a leader to do so irritates good performers who hate to see someone “getting away with something”. There is a temptation for the good performers to drift down to the lower level. On the positive side, leaders should provide employees with leadership opportunities and look for situations to expand their responsibilities.

Developing – providing specific and on-going training

Although this was implicitly touched on in coaching, developing employees should be directly addressed by focusing on training requirements. What initial training do new employees need? What job specific training is required? Consider equipment, technology, skills, job content, business drivers, etc. If the employee displays management or executive potential, you have to identify personal and business areas for development.

Being a leader is challenging and demanding. The good news is that assistance is as nearby as your people when you create the right organizational CLIMATE and help people SUCCEED. If you take the time and make the effort to “unleash the power of people”, then you will realize the satisfaction that comes from being the leader of a high-performance organization.