Associations, Volunteerism and More

Probably every business leader today has read Jim Collins’ best selling business book Good to Great.  The book explains a study that Collins and several of his business school students did on the attributes of successful companies – not just marginally successful, but industry leading companies who sustained their success over long periods of time.

One of the tenets of these successful companies is they know how to “get the right people on the bus and in the right seats”.  In other words, they know how to find people who are a good fit for their company AND they know how to put them in positions where they can be successful.

I recently read an article that takes this concept a step further – almost.

The article acknowledges the concept of getting the right people on the bus AND acknowledges that sometimes we make mistakes when selecting those people.  Sometimes, though a person may be right for our company in many ways – they are a good producer, they are efficient, etc. – they may not be a good fit for our company’s culture.  Perhaps they aren’t willing to buy-in to the company philosophy; perhaps they don’t treat people in the company the way they should be treated; perhaps they’re just not part of the team.  In those cases, even though they may be a “top performer”, successful leaders recognize the need to get this person “off the bus”.

The article focuses mostly on the ways to document “not being a good fit” for legal protections.  That’s where the article disappointed me.  Don’t get me wrong, legal protection is important for a company.

What I really like about the article is the idea it gave me (and hopefully will give you too) to create a method for measuring through employee evaluations each employees’ contributions (or lack thereof) to the company culture.  You see to me the important point here isn’t the legal protection that can provide the company if you decide to terminate a “top performer” for not fitting in.

To me the important point is if we measure it, it becomes reality.  If our employees know that part of their evaluation relates to how they contribute to the corporate culture we are trying to make and maintain, many will work to meet and even exceed the established goals.  In other words, by measuring individual employee contribution to corporate culture as we measure their contribution toward sales growth, customer service, operational efficiency, etc we can help mold people into the “right” people.

We hired them for a reason.  They met or exceeded our expectations during the hiring process or they wouldn’t be on the bus at all.  So, let’s find ways to get them in the right seat and keep them on the bus.  Perhaps measuring their contribution to your corporate culture is one way to do just that.

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There have been many great military leaders throughout history.  Some of them have gone on to become leaders in other arenas as well – political, business, media, etc.

Being in the association business, we often see professional speakers who talk about management, change, people, leadership, and more.  So when I saw this article today it caught my attention.  The article talks about a few new(er) business consulting firms that have been formed by retired military leaders who are now teaching the military leadership principles they used to succeed on the battlefield to business leaders.

One in particular, the Afterburners, are well known on the association speaking circuit.

After reading the short article, one message stands out.  To succeed on the battlefield and in business you have to follow a consistent and clear process.  The process military leaders recommend is this:  Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief.

So simple, yet many businesses seem to fail at one or more of the steps regularly.  Each step is critical to the success of the “mission”.  It all starts of course with planning.  We all know how important planning is.  However, sometimes we put more value on the process of planning than in developing the right plan for our circumstances.  Next comes the briefing.  This is where we get the rest of the team involved and bought into the plan.  Every member must understand the big picture – what we are trying to achieve AND must understand the clear objectives (the job) they have and how their job fits with the overall plan.  Execution is next.  Once the planning is done and everyone understands their job, it’s time to get it done.  If the planning and briefing were done well, the execution will be easier.  However, during execution we may encounter issues we didn’t plan on.  Hopefully we have put the right contingencies in place to overcome the challenges.  Finally, when we’re all done, it’s time to debrief.  I love what the military leaders bring to this part of the process – ripping the ranks off at the door.  To debrief successfully, they know every member of the team has to feel free to speak their mind in contributing to bettering the process next time.  If people are worried about repercussions for their statements, they may not speak freely.

There are many leadership lessons we can learn from the military.  The process for successful engagement – Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief may be my favorite. 

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“I have some bad news”.

What’s your reaction when you hear this phrase from a co-worker?  I’ll tell you mine – I get a lump in my throat, a strange feeling in my gut, my palms start to sweat, my heart beats a little faster.  I probably even roll my eyes and exhale loudly sometimes.

Most people don’t like to receive bad news.  I’m certainly no different.  But great leaders DO want to hear bad news, in fact, they encourage it, they seek it out.  Why?

Because if they learn about it before it becomes a result, they can impact it.  Even if it’s become a result, the earlier they learn about it, the better they can react to it.  Check out this article about how leaders should handle bad news.

I love the analogy to the “ugly sweater”.  Bad news is like an ugly sweater.  Great leaders wear the ugly sweater by asking questions encouraging openness and honesty among their employees.  Great leaders don’t ask, “How are things going?”, they ask “What challenges do you have right now?”.

Think about that later today when you’re in a staff meeting or having a one-on-one conversation with one of your employees.  Ask them some leading questions to encourage them to share bad news they’re aware of or anticipating.  At first, you may break out in a cold sweat, but keep a smile on your face and let them think you are pleased to be learning this in time to address it.

I’m going to try it.

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