Situation: You have been working 14+ hour days on a very important request for proposal (RFP) for the mid-sized company for which you work. You haven’t seen much of your family, and your spouse is starting to get pretty agitated with you. While you explain to her how the extra time you put into this proposal will really benefit the company and its ability to land some key new accounts, it is increasingly falling on deaf ears. You and your team are among the highest performers in the company and have been motivated in large part because you know your efforts really make a difference. Recently, you have been wondering if being the “A-team” is really worth it.
One afternoon as you are contemplating whether or not to work late to tighten up the RFP and potentially insert additional client studies that would make the RFP stand out, you look out at the golf course view you have from your office. There is a foursome playing the hole near your building and you notice it is your boss, the CEO and two of the sales guys on the account for whom the RFP is being prepared. “Damn it!” you mumble. “Here I am killing myself and pulling in chits from my wife to stay late to make this RFP sing and those guys are out there playing golf. I know when the RFP gets submitted, the CEO and the sales guys are going to expect me to present the details that they should be explaining to the client. On top of that, the sales guys get the commission and the CEO is going to get a big pat on the back (and a bunch of stock) when we land these next accounts. You know what, the RFP is good enough – I’m going home.”
How does a leader get the best out of his/her people? Or conversely, how does a leader prevent his/her “A” players from working like “B” players?
Build a Team, Choose a Path and Motivate
While there have been countless books written on how to best lead, I believe all of it boils down to those three concepts. Trust, communication, setting an example, being decisive, taking responsibility, etc., are all critical to being a strong leader, but those characteristics have to drive (1) Building a Team, (2) Choosing a Path, and (3) Motivating people.
It is unfortunately unusual to find a leader that is truly effective and understands the importance of these three points. Often times whether due to poor mentoring, personal insecurities, fear, ego, rigid views around hierarchy, poor listening skills, or a host of other issues, many “leaders” fail to do one or all three effectively. Getting people to do what you want because they fear you (a la Kim Jong Il) is not leading. Leading is creating an environment where people come together naturally in the pursuit of a common goal and motivating them to perform at high levels of productivity.
Building a team: One builds a maximally effective team by creating an environment where all members of a group feel their participation and perspective is valued, their input is considered and free communication fosters unfettered debate. I touched on this in the very first post – the foundation of building a team is trust. An effective team has Respect for each other, engages in open Debate, focuses on Logic not emotion, it is Business not personal, has a Clear Action Plan, and holds others in the team Accountable.
Choosing a Path: Ultimately it is the leader who is accountable for the direction of the organization. Before choosing a path though, the effective leader should have an intimate grasp of the complexities of the organization, business, and the problem through diligence with members of the organization and its stake holders. This requires listening and thinking. The leader takes this mindful diligence and open team debate and arrives at his/her view of the right goal for the organization and the best path to take to achieve that goal. If there has been sufficient diligence and debate, whatever direction the leader arrives at (note the direction is not determined by group vote, but by the leader assessing all input), then there will be group buy-in and ownership of the goal.
Motivating People: Motivating people is a complex endeavor. I believe the best motivators are actually those that don’t appear to be doing it. It is like the old Zen concept of mastering something without focusing on it. While there are many examples in sports of coaches motivating players before a big game to out-perform their expectations ...and then the Americans beat the Soviets... in the business world motivational pep-talks are valuable but don’t generally drive long term consistent motivation. As important as they are, corporate goals rarely generate the same kind of white-hot passion as winning Olympic gold. To motivate effectively over the long term, the business leader must build the right team, chose the right path, then by lead by example (inspire through actions). Leading by example could be as obvious as the leader going out and meeting with all the customers or staying late with the team that is cranking on the new customer RFP, or it could be something small like helping set up at a trade show or vacuuming the storage room. If the rest of the team knows that you are willing to do what it takes to reach the goal and you are not asking them to do something you wouldn’t do, then they will be right by your side, in many cases way ahead of you. Conversely, regardless of Knute Rockne-esque words, if the leader is not giving 100%, the team will lose its passion.
Obviously, a leader can also motivate using money, recognition, or other “compensation”. While compensation is certainly an important component of corporate motivation (as we all want to get paid for what we do), without the motivation resultant from building a team, choosing a path, and leading by example, the motivation will be fleeting. More often than not, companies use compensation to make up for lack of true leadership in their staff and then wonder why the improved performance didn’t last after the bonus check was cut.
So, if you want your staff to go the extra mile, add the extra zip to the customer presentation, or burn the midnight oil because “it will really make a difference”, then they need to know they are part of a team that they trust, are working for a common agreed upon goal, and see you right there with them. The great leader creates that kind of environment and in doing so turns the vast majority of the group into high performance A players that put in 14 hour days with a smile rather than 8 hour days with a frown and monster.com on speed dial.
