When all the management fads, from Management by Objectives (made famous by Drucker over 50 years ago) to the latest ones, have faded from awareness; when the latest “must read” book becomes passé; when the hot new training package moves over to be replaced by the next — we are left with something of timeless value. 

Each new new (no typo) thing will find new ways of putting what is timeless, and showing us how to use it, but it will not have added much that is brand new. Sorry.

What is timeless comes down to what could be called the six pillars of management wisdom:

• Decide what is most important
• Build an operating system and a motivating environment that supports execution
• Measure the resulting execution
• Coach for improved performance
• Improve the operating system
• Do all of the above in collaboration with all stakeholders

New perspectives on each of these has the beneficial effect of renewing the passion and energy of managers for the steep challenge of leading an organization. We need new ways of thinking about the timeless wisdom, and refreshing ourselves for practice. The seminal thinkers who shine new light on old truths do us a great service. They remind us of what we know.
Often, when conducting training, I have noticed that what energizes and animates a group most is some way of putting an insight that so resonates with their own deeply held beliefs that people  call up their own wisdom and reaffirm it. In moments like these we are unpacking what we already know to make it available for use.

Warren Bennis says this ability to trust and express the inner reservoir of what we already know is one of the most important lessons of leadership. 

“And when we forgo our own thoughts and opinions, they end up coming
back to us from the mouths of others. They come back with an alien
majesty . . . . So the lesson is, you believe it. When I’ve been most
effective, I’ve listened to that inner voice” (Bennis, 1989).

Recently I was coaching a fine manager — clinical director of a highly respected organization. Looking for the simplicity that lies back of complexity, I spoke of what I have called the six pillars of management wisdom. 

He knew them well and was an able practitioner. But he wondered out loud what it is that often encumbers practice and creates the complexity that confounds the simplicity. “What is the devil in the details of these great principles — the thing that’s getting in my way?” We were off to a stimulating hour of reflection leading to insight. I left confident that insight would lead to actions.

The devil we discussed had a name — Gaps In Accountability

The manager was perplexed. There was a small, but important, routine procedure that a couple of his direct reports were not executing dependably. They didn’t do it. Or, they did it late. Or, they failed to record it.  

A dialogue something like this ensued:

I asked him, “Why should they do it?”  
“Because it’s important.”
“I understand that it’s important to you, but why should they do it?”
“It’s just so clear that it’s the right thing . . . and that there’s a price to be paid if it’s not done. It’s a small matter in a way, but it’s something that our licensing authority is sure to look at next month.”
“And who will pay the price you mention if it’s not done?”
“Why, the whole organization.” 
“Yes, but what happens to them, for them, with them if it’s not done?”
Long silence. The clear answer — not much. Clearly we had hit on the question of accountability.
I asked this manager where he learned to be accountable. He told me of a time in his youth and his relationship with his  shift supervisor when he was working as a tower-based air traffic controller at a U.S. Air Force Base. An Air Force fighter jet and a commercial passenger liner were both preparing to land. Their timing and paths would not guarantee Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) minimum separation requirements. If they pursued their direction and speed, they would probably collide. 
The shift supervisor saw it, the future manager I was coaching saw it; each knew that the other saw it. Tragedy in the making cast a spell of silence that seemed to last an eternity. Only seconds remained to avert disaster. 
The shift supervisor spoke, “I’m going to get some coffee. Let me know if they crash.”

The controller handled it. They didn’t crash. Two weeks later, when the shift supervisor left the position, he promoted thetraffic controller to be shift supervisor.

In this story, a watershed experience for the manager I was coaching that would resonate for a lifetime, is all we need to know about accountability in the workplace. 

• When something important to both parties is at stake, people are more likely to hold themselves accountable for execution.
• When the consequences (positive or negative) are evident to everyone, the chances of getting accountability are greatly enhanced. A standard without a consequence is just a wish.
• Effective managers let people struggle with genuine responsibility for execution. They do not anxiously intervene and short-circuit responsibility. They find the courage to allow direct reports to struggle with decision and execution; to let them feel the full weight of responsibility.
• Obedience is not accountability. Obedience must be re-imposed every time — it never gets internalized. Obedience, doing what the manager says, must be called for in each instance where it is important. Accountability springs from an internal state in which people hold themselves accountable to a standard of execution because they value anticipated results and working relationships.

Everything wants to be mediocre. It is only by passionate caring, and an inclination toward action and shared commitments that managers get “wow” results. What turns obedience into accountability? Collaboration. Robust dialogue. Surfacing disagreement when it is not expressed.  Consequences (positive and negative) contracted for in advance of expected execution.  Relationships of shared accountability and trust.   

Wildly important things are at stake. Don’t let them crash.

References

Bennis, Warren G. (1989). On Becoming a Leader. Perseus Book Group. Cambridge, Mass.

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Marybmv3  - good-new.ru   |188.40.160.xxx |2010-10-12 03:24:00 Character problem. empty comment Reply 0   0

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