Archives for August 2012
Dealing with bad leadership
Back in July I wrote a blog post inspired by a new book out by Barbara Kellerman. ( The End of Leadership)
One of the points in her book that really struck a note with me is how much focus there is on developing good leaders while we seem to be ignoring the problem of the bad leaders.
Since writing that post the issue has been rumbling round my head. And the question keeps popping up: why is it that many organisations have such a hard time identifying and dealing with the bad apples?
But now I think I may have found part of the answer.
In a HBR blog post on August 16 with the title: Are you sure you are not a bad boss? Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman make the interesting observation that bad bosses are not so much characterized by the terrible things they do but much more by what they don’t do.
To most people a bad boss is someone who displays the kind of caricatured behavior that can be observed in television series like The Office. But according to the research done by Zenger and Folkman that type of blatantly impossible behavior only accounts for about 20% of what defines the really hopeless bosses.
By analyzing the behavior of 30,000 managers through the eyes of their peers and direct reports they came to the conclusion that bad leaders are characterized by one or more crucial omissions.
Here’s the list in order, from the most to the least fatal:
1. Failure to inspire, owing to a lack of energy and enthusiasm.
2. Acceptance of mediocre performance in place of excellent results.
3. A lack of clear vision and direction.
4. An inability to collaborate and be a team player.
5. Failure to walk the talk.
6. Failure to improve and learn from mistakes.
7. An inability to lead change or innovate owing to a resistance to new ideas.
8. A failure to develop others.
9. Inept interpersonal skills.
10. Displays of bad judgment that leads to poor decisions.
For a more detailed description of each of the ‘omissions’ you can read the full blog post here.
So my suspicion is that exactly because bad bosses are not doing something that is glaringly terrible, the manager that they report to does not feel a sense of urgency with regard to dealing with them. On the contrary when I think of my own career and other examples that come to mind a person who displays one or more of the above characteristics is exactly the direct report that one dreads dealing with.
But obviously, failing to react means that one has taken a 1st small step oneself towards becoming a bad boss…
No value no business (redux)
Average is over!
The above title is from a recent column in the New York Times by Paul Krugman. In it Krugman makes the point that in the past and average person with an average education could do an average job and earn an average income without too much sweat. But today as digitization, automation and cheap labor is easily accessible to all it takes more than average to make it. This means writes Krugman that everyone needs to find their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment.
If you think about it that’s not just on a personal level. That also applies to any imaginable company, product or service.
No value no business
But how do we actually define value?
Firstly, we must always keep in mind the value can only be understood from the customer perspective – which means it is highly subjective.
Secondly, in all service businesses there is a phenomenon of asymmetry. By which I mean that what the customer actually purchases is not what we sell.
The simple version of this is when you book a hotel room you are in the market for a good nights sleep but what the hotel provides you with is a room and a bed.
If we then look at the research documented in the service profit chain there is a very neat formula for understanding value from the customer perspective called the value equation:
Value equals Result (R) + Process (P) / ($) Price + (E) Effort
The process part can then be broken down further in to 5 components : Time, Reliability, Competency, Empathy and Proof of delivery.
With this little equation we can map any existing or future service experience/product and in the process understand what the value proposition is. And more importantly what can be tweaked in order to increase value.
The most important part is the ‘Result’ part of the equation. As consultants we can be asked to deliver what on the surface essentially seems the same service but actually provides or fulfills different result needs for different clients. (When hiring a consultant clients can be looking for, a solution, reassurance, someone to do the dirty work, an excuse to postpone something etc) so we can only deliver value once we have a very clear understanding of the Result that is to be provided. Once we know that we can tailor the process and the 5 variables that comprise the process in order to maximize the Result part.
The higher the value we provide above the line more room there is for a payment under the line.
The E-part of the equation relates to how much effort the customer needs to put in apart from what they pay for it. Simply put the easier we make their life – the more value they see.
To better understand the equation try for yourself.
If you have the guts map out your own job. If you’re less courageous just try a-product or service that your company delivers
Happy staff make more money… for you
“…companies that effectively appreciate employee value enjoy a return on equity & assets more than triple that experienced by firms that don’t. When looking at Fortune’s ’100 Best Companies to Work For’ stock prices rose an average of 14% per year from 1998-2005, compared to 6% for the overall market.” read the Forbes article here
This is a quote from study cited by a new book out by Dr. Noelle Nelson entitled : “Make More Money by Making Your Employees Happy,
For regular readers of this blog this is a well-known theme.
I’m always amazed how much attention this kind of message actually gets: Everybody goes . ohh surprise.. look at this…happy staff is important.
Because if you think about it it is so self evident. In a hyper-competitive world where products are more lookalike than unique, ultimately what makes a difference is the relationship factor.
And the relationship factor is what takes place between your front-line employees and customers.
The missing link
What a lot of people however totally miss in this connection is what it actually takes to keep front-line employees happy and comfortable with their jobs. The big misunderstanding is that it’s a question of more money, perks or friendly pats on the back. It’s not.
As Hertzberg taught us many many years ago, the basics, money work conditions etc, need to be on par with industry standards and if you get that right you can prevent dissatisfaction – Hertzberg called these hygiene factors. But it does not create motivation or the kind of enthusiasm that is needed for front-line employees to actually enjoy building those crucial relationships with customers.
From my perspective employee satisfaction is relatively uninteresting – what really counts is employee enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is what makes a service organisation stand out head and shoulders above the rest.
And the primary driver of enthusiasm on the job – which has to do with job content , what a person is allowed to do – is that person’s immediate supervisor.
The immediate supervisor builds or kills enthusiasm.
So if we want to build a service organisation that is among the best we need to make sure that our middle management team understands the crucial role that they play in this connection.
It is as simple as that.