Leadership Knowledge

Summary: The author contends that most organizations reward the wrong things.  He offers a four step process for turning wrong rewards into the right results.

Boost Your Leadership Skills Simply By Answering The Question, “What Does Our Organization Really Reward?”
By Brent Filson

The difference between leaders is ears.  Good leaders not only ask good questions, but they actually listen to the answers.

Ask people in your organization: “What does our organization REALLY reward?”  Listening to the answer may help you achieve marked increased in results.

Rewards and punishments make up the drive shaft of any organization. But my experience of working with thousands of leaders during the past 23 years reveals that most of their organizations reward the wrong things.

Such organizations may pay lip service to rewarding people for what is viewed as the right things: getting results, getting the right results, getting the right results in the right ways.  But what they may really reward, often in terms of promotions and job perks, are such things as the care and feeding of top leaders’ egos, political conniving, tyrannical leadership ….

Here is a way to transform wrong rewards into right results.

(1) Ask people in your organization what your organization REALLY rewards. The answers may surprise you.  But don’t get caught up in those answers.  Don’t make value judgments.  At this stage, you are just an observer.  Simply compile the list.

(2) Gauge each item on the list against results your organization really needs.  Does it help get results?  Does it detract from results?

Do it this way: Pick out a single item from your list. Describe the problem in the item and identify who controls its solution. Execute a “stop-start-continue” process.  What reward do you stop, what do you start, and what do you continue?

You’ll get results, but don’t expect overnight success.  Not only are many of these wrong rewards ingrained habits but changing them seldom achieves quick results.  Still, keep asking, What does my organization really reward?  In the long run, when tackling the challenges that comes with listening to the answers, you’ll be getting more results as well as sharpening your leadership skills.

(3) Ask, “What does your leadership really reward?”  When your leadership rewards the wrong things, you’re getting a fraction of the results you’re capable of.  However, since we see the faults of others more clearly than our own, it may be more difficult identifying and dealing with your own issues rather than your organization’s.

Do a 360 degree assessment.  Select a single item from the list and apply the start-stop-continue process.  Don’t simply eliminate the item.  Such items can be grist for the results mill.  Identify the problem in the item then have the solution be a tool that gets results.

Guaranteed you will get results.  After all, you are eliminating a negative aspect of your leadership and replacing it with a results-producing one.  When you make this a long term endeavor — going from item to item — results will come to you in new and often unexpected ways.

(4) Encourage the people you lead to question the rewards aspects of their own leadership. Be aware of their reactions to your encouragement.  Do they see the questioning as meaningful to their jobs?  Do they want their colleagues involved in such questioning?  Do they want to have senior management question their own leadership?

If people want the questioning to be a regular part of their daily work, continue it.  If they feel it has little value, call a time out.  After all, if people believe they are powerless to change things in the organization, seismic questions like this will only frustrate and anger them, creating a hot house environment for cynicism to flower.

As you go forward:

• Cultivate among the people a common, self-reinforcing fervor for the questioning.  Don’t force things.   Be an observer and a supporter.  Observe their reactions to the questioning and support their efforts to make it succeed.
• Encourage the development of networks of people taking the initiative to engage in the questioning together.
• Now and then, and especially in the beginning, set aside special times and places to have them focus exclusively on such questioning, making sure they continually link the answers to getting increases in results.
• Keep that linkage alive.  This is not an academic exercise.  It’s not meant to simply have people feel good or, on the other hand, vent their frustrations.  It’s sole objective is to get MEASURABLE INCREASES IN RESULTS.  If results are not forthcoming, have people refocus on the need for the questioning; and if you still are not receiving results, curtail or even eliminate it for awhile. You can always reactivate it when the time and the environment are more conducive to having it succeed.
• Avoid having the process deteriorate into name calling and finger pointing.  The idea is not to use the questioning to get the goods on people or as a platform for emotional outbursts against the organization but instead for what it is meant to be, a powerful tool to get more results continually.

Mind you, people shouldn’t be spending inordinate amounts of time on the questioning.  Nor should it be seen as a major, discrete effort, like an operations or marketing program.  Just the opposite: It should be a natural part of everybody’s leadership activities.  Constantly asking, Are we rewarding the right things? should eventually come as second nature.

Leadership can be a very challenging task. As leaders we don’t always get to choose who is on our team. In fact very often a leader inherits a team, of which most of the members have been there far longer than the leader, and may even know more about the work than the leader. Whatever the situation, one of the responsibilities of a leader is to motivate the team to all work together towards the common goal. This can be a daunting challenge. So often the team is comprised of very diverse members, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and work styles. The team dynamics are also often complicated by internal disagreements and personal conflicts. The leader, not only has work with this group of people, but also needs to achieve the results expected by their superiors.

Leaders can greatly benefit by being able to identify the types of personality characteristics of team members. By understanding the basic personality types, the leader can use individual strengths of members for the good of the team, as well as assign tasks that individual team member’s naturally excel in. A leader can also learn to communicate in a way that is motivating, by taking into account the needs, values and working preferences of different team members.

A good leader will see the greatest results by working and utilizing the strengths and working style characteristics of the personalities on the team. By correctly positioning the individual member strengths and compensating for weaknesses, the leader can bring the team into a productive balance and harmony.

A brief overview of the different values and working styles of the four main personality types demonstrates the importance of this knowledge being part of the successful leadership toolbox. The four types of personality will be described using the colours Gold, Blue, Green and Orange.

The strong Gold employee takes work and responsibility very seriously. Gold personalities want to contribute, be part of the team, and to be successful and productive. They respond well to recognition, rewards and incentives. However Gold team members need well defined responsibilities and structure, firm expectations and timelines as well as being reassured from authority that they are on the right track.

The strong Blue personality needs an open, social atmosphere to be able work well. Relationships are very important for them, and they need the freedom to be able to nurture relationships with coworkers, customers and employers.. Conflict and intense competition are painful for a strong Blue, but they will thrive in a positive, creative, service orientated atmosphere.

A strong Green personality is more noted for expertise rather than people skills. They are excellent working with facts, data, research and analytical projects. Greens shine in their ability for designing, understanding complex systems and strategy. Facts are of utmost importance for the Green, but they have a weakness for routine follow through and are somewhat insensitive in social interactions.

Orange team members are noticeable by their energy, skill and creativity. A key factor for an Orange is the freedom to be able to use their skills and abilities. If there is too much structure, or their boss is very authoritarian, the orange personality feels blocked and does not function well. Orange personalities like people and work well in a spirit of teamwork, competition and camaraderie. They are action orientated, though and become impatient with prolonged talking and detailed administrative tasks.

A leader, by knowing the colours of his team, can use this knowledge to blend the team members into a unified, well coordinated picture poised for success. By facilitating each team member to function in their areas of natural strength and motivating them by communicating in a way that inspires harmony and team work, the leader is well on the way to achieving extraordinary results.

1.    Observation

This is an important aspect that often gets neglected due the demands on a leader’s time and schedule. Observation and regular visits to the work environment needs to be scheduled into the calendar. Observing employees work procedures and the work flow is foundational to implementing adjustments to improve results.  To have credibility, a leader needs to be seen and be known to be up to date with what is happening in the work place.

2.    Monitor Employee Performance

Employee performance needs to be monitored in mutually accepted ways. Policies and procedures need to be clear. Conferencing should be on a regular basis and not just when there is a problem. Assessments and evaluations should not be merely all formality or paperwork to be done. Individual and group conferencing should be undertaken with the expectation of on going professional development.  There should be frequent encouragement and clear criteria for on going goals both for the group and individual.

3.    Implementation of Professional Development Programs

A good leader evaluates weaknesses and provides training and development strategies to strengthen the weaker skills in the team.

4.    Demonstrates Working Knowledge and Expertise

Good leadership comes from a place of strong knowledge and experience of the production and process leading to results. If a leader does not posses all the expertise and knowledge personally he should then hold regular consultations with experts. This is important in order to maintain an accurate and informed overall picture.

5.    Good Decision Making

Good leadership is characterized by the ability to make good decisions. A leader considers all the different factors before making a decision. A clear decision creates confidence in the leadership.

6.    Ability to Conduct and Evaluate Research

On going review and research is vital in order to keep on the cutting edge in business.  While managing the present to ensure on going excellence in performance and product, a good leader is also able to look towards the future.  Conducting and evaluating research is an important way of planning and being prepared for the future.

Excellent leadership is always pro active rather than reactive. By developing these six managerial skills a good leader is on the journey to becoming a great leader.