Leadership In At The Deep End

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Tim Lambert

Deep End

A great deal of my work is with so-called ‘experienced’ managers. The use of the word experience in this context is not meant to infer capability, merely the number of years in a managerial role.

There is a big difference.

Experience isn’t the same as exposure. Just because you were there, doesn’t mean you were aware.

Diminish Effort, Diminishing Return

I have found that the higher people climb the ladder of management, the less coaching and development they seem to receive. The dismissive and pejorative term ‘soft skills’ is used to consign vital management skills to optional ‘nice-to-haves’, and the presumption is that the ‘hard’ technical skills are already in place.

We shouldn’t be so surprised when so many of them slip and stumble, or appear ill-suited to the responsibilities they hold. These are the people who time forgot.

Learning & Development passed them by and now they are in role, they are expected to perform unaided.

The expectation is that once you wear the badge of office and have the name plate on the door, you are a fully-fledged manager, despite the fact that no-one has taught you how to spread your wings. It’s no wonder so many end up in a flap.

The Expectation Game

All Leaders are having a tough deal at the moment.

These difficulties are:

  • Encountering totally new business pressures
  • Struggling to match ever-increasing expectations
  • Trying to provide stability in a world that never stands still
  • Having to learn new rules of the game
  • Create new rules that allow them to stay in the game
  • Attempting to keep employees engaged, energised and effective
  • Having to navigate through turbulent and unpredictable global events
  • Constantly trying to deliver more with less

And, to make things worse, they are largely doing this alone…

Yet we are very quick to blame them when they fail to live up to our expectations, even though we almost guaranteed their failure the day we appointed them.

Sailing the Leader Ship

With so many companies struggling to stay afloat, and employees reporting that they routinely feel cast adrift, we have to ask …“Is our Leadership sea-worthy, or is it more like the Titantic?” and what are we really doing to leaders their sea legs?

It doesn’t seem to matter what level I work with; managers are struggling whether they are at the top of the tree or just starting their ascent up the trunk. If anything, some of the worst examples of incompetence are displayed at the highest level – not so much being ‘out of their depth’ as being ‘high as a kite!’

It strikes me that we haven’t really served these people well. We’ve thrown them in at the deep end without a life raft.

Cookie Cutter Leadership

Some get sent of standard Leadership or Management Development programmes, but these only produce ‘standard leaders and managers’…if they’re lucky! And it isn’t standard leaders we need. Generic leadership programmes typically fail to address the specific and unique challenges that leaders face: and the results are plain to see.

The world is awash with theory, literature, and talk about leadership.

But what really counts is this:

“Do YOU have the types of leader that will help YOU deliver YOUR organisational vision?”

Creating Faux Leaders

Many people are appointed to management and senior management roles without a full appreciation of their personal strengths and qualities, or a detailed understanding of the requirements of the role.

Most are appointed because of technical brilliance which is no longer required in the elevated role. The result is that new managers and leaders are left floundering; desperately trying to protect their reputation, uphold their credibility and authority, and deliver results with their hands tied behind their back.

For many, there seems no option other than to play an elaborate game of bluff through to retirement.

Finding a Better Way

We have to find ways to serve our leaders better if we want them to serve us well. We have to persuade leaders that it is in their best interest to embrace on-going personal and professional development.

And we have to ensure that what we provide by way of development is fit for purpose, focused on helping them navigate their way skilfully through and around the unique challenges they face; and available at the point of need.

Without this sea-change in the way we support, educate, develop and coach our leaders, we’re going to find more holes appearing in our leader-ship.

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Tim Lambert
Tim Lambert is CEO of Kay-Lambert Associates Limited
He is a professional leadership coach working with groups and individuals
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Web | Blog | Skype: timlambertkla

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Leadership is…

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Scott Span, MSOD

Leadership

The topic of leadership is more popular then ever!

According to our marketing partner, Preactive Marketing, the phrase “leadership is” has over 6 million global monthly searches.  This indicates there is a growing interest in the topic and in learning to become a better leader.

So, how would you finish the phrase leadership is…

I would finish it something like this:

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thanks for the words of wisdom Ike. Leaders can’t lead without followers – or as I like to call them – implementers and doers.

Creating a Leadership Model

So, how does a leader get someone to do something because he/she wants it done?

Transparency – Be transparent.

People can usually tell when “something is up.” So before the rumors begin flying and productivity is impacted, communicate with your employees.

When making strategic decisions, determining organizational changes, or facing issues that impact employees, successful leaders need to be transparent with their workforce about how these matters arose, their thought process for dealing with them, and how their solutions may directly impact those they lead.

Trust – Create a safe and trusting environment. 

Trust is a fundamental behavior for any relationship, both personal and professional. According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 key components of employee satisfaction (Lamb & McKee, 2009).

They found that:

Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization.

Trust must be earned. Leaders can earn employee trust by helping employees understand the company’s overall business strategy, informing them how they contribute to achieving key business goals, and sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee’s own performance is relative to organizational objectives.

It is much easier for employees to trust a leader that shows an interest in them.

Self-Awareness – Be self-aware.

Successful leaders have a heightened level of self-awareness, they have an understanding of themselves, their behaviors and actions, and how those behaviors and actions are interpreted by, and directly impact, employees.

A good example of leadership self-awareness is exhibited in the U.S. Army’s leadership philosophy of “be, know, do.”

  • Be proficient and competent
  • Know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses
  • Do take responsibility and lead by example

Always be open to further growth and learning. Professional coaching is also a great well to help further develop leader self-awareness.

You see…leadership is a facet of business that is imperative to succeeding.

“The quality of leadership, more than any other single factor, determines the success or failure of an organization.” ~Fred Fiedler & Martin Chemers

So be a quality leader – one who people trust, respect, and want to follow!

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Scott Span, MSOD is President of Tolero Solutions OD & Change Management firm
He helps clients be responsive, focused, and effective to facilitate sustainable growth
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Leaders: How to Be a Successful CEO

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Kristi Royse

Facebook and Apple

The Social Network movie gave a behind-the-scenes story on Mark Zuckerberg telling how he dropped out of Harvard while developing Facebook and has become one of the most famous, powerful, and youngest CEOs in the world.

How has he done this?

Leadership Lessons of Mark Zuckerberg and Steven Jobs

Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steven Jobs has generated many “spirited conversations” around “good leadership/bad leadership” and people have tried to pull leadership lessons and success stories from it.  I have shared many with my clients and colleagues.

What can we learn from these two very successful CEO’s?

Taken from ChiefExecuutive.net newsletter, Fast Company Magazine, Harvard Business Review, and a few of my own, here are lessons from two of the most famous and powerful CEO’s in the world.

1. Make your own evolution and development as a leader a top priority

Zuckerberg is one of the few CEOs in history to come to significant power without his personality fully formed. He was smart enough to take himself on as a project and proactively continues to grow and mold himself into the leader he aspires to be.

He began by studying and evaluating the successful people and companies around him; tapping them for insider lessons in leadership.

Jobs is all about employees engaging face to face. He had the Pixar and Apple buildings designed to promote unplanned encounters and collaborations.

If a building does not encourage that, you’ll lose a lot of innovation and the magic that’s sparked by serendipity

2. Be Open and allow for “true” communication

Facebook keeps their employees in the loop on where the company is going; especially in a fast-growing start up. This enhances confidence and unity.

3. Create a real office culture

Facebook’s is the Hacker Way and so it “questions assumptions, moves fast, takes risks, shares information, and learns from other smart people,” says FC.

4. Tolerate only “A” Players

Jobs passion for perfection and his desire to work with only the best is his way of preventing what he called “the bozo explosion”. This is when managers are so polite that mediocre people feel comfortable sticking around.

“I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things.”

5. Bend reality

They both pushed people to do the impossible because they didn’t realize it was possible. They helped their people to not be afraid if they got their mind around it; using the “yes you can” my magic motto.

As a leader, your best move might be to step out of the way and let someone else take charge.

Put people and products before profit.

6. Involve everyone in hiring practices

When Facebook was growing, everyone helped to bring in new talent and all had interviewing duties, even engineers. After all your current employees will be the ones working with the new hires.

Jobs shares:

“My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. Everything else was secondary. Sure, it was great to make a profit, because that allowed you to make great products. But the products not the profits were the motivation.”

Zuckerberg’s  team approaches every hire with an eye on the future.

“The people we hired were capable of solving the problems we knew were coming.”

7. Practice Leadership

“Making decisions on the basis of incomplete, inconclusive, or contradictory information is a skill that managers at every level must master. The learning comes from making thousands of small choices and mistakes on the way there.” ~Marc Randolph; Co-Founder Netflix

  • Focus: Trust data and your gut.

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do. That is true for companies and it is true for products.” ~steve Jobs

  • Simplify: Cut clutter and make it easy to use.

Jobs insisted on being able to get whatever he wanted in three clicks. He even got rid of the on/off button

  • When behind, Leapfrog.

The mark of a good leader is not only that it comes up with new ideas first, but it also knows who to leapfrog when he finds himself behind.

  • Don’t be a slave to focus groups. 
  1. “Customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them. As Henry Ford shared many years ago, ‘If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse.’”

Caring deeply about what customers want is much different from consistently asking them what they want, it requires intuition and instinct about desires that have not yet formed.

  • Push for perfection. 

Hit the pause button and go back to the drawing board if it is not perfect. Then take responsibility end to end for the employee and the customer interface.

8. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

Zuckerberg says:

“So many businesses get worried about looking like they might make a mistake, they become afraid to take any risk. Companies are set up so that people judge each other on failure.”

  • Stay hungry; stay foolish.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” ~Apple’s Think Different commercial

Both of these men changed themselves and will continue to change the world. How will you? What can you do to become truly successful? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

**********

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Kristi Royse is CEO of KLR Consulting
She inspires success in leaders and teams with coaching and staff development
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Leadership Transitions: How Not to Fail

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Beth Armknecht Miller

Leadership Transitions

In the October 2009 edition of Chief Learning Officer, Michael D. Watkins’ article “The Eight Toughest Transitions for Leaders” outlined the top transitions that most business leaders have to navigate during their career.  

The transitions are:

  • Promotion
  • Leading former peers
  • Diplomacy (authority versus influence)
  • New organization
  • International move
  • Organizational turnaround
  • Corporate strategy realignment
  • Business portfolio change

Watkins suggests that in order for a leader to transition successfully, a leader must not only be capable of adapting his personal style and competencies, but also be able to focus on the organization’s need to build a plan for organizational growth.

Identifying Needed Changes

Last Year

This past year has brought change to many leaders. Now that it is early February and the time of year that our New Year’s Resolutions can begin to fade or unravel, ask yourself some questions about last year:

  • What personal leadership changes did you make in 2011?
  • How would you rate your ability to adapt both personally and organizationally?

This Year

Looking forward into 2012, here are some questions to ponder to help you with your leadership success:

  1. Given your experience and leadership strengths, what do you need to do more of and less of?
  1. What new skills do you need to learn? What is your plan to obtain these new skills?
  1. What adjustments do you need to make in the areas of communications, delegation, decision-making, team-building, and also with your trusted network of advisors?

Identifying Needed Answers

The quality of the answers to these self-reflective questions is contingent on your level of self-awareness.  Since some of us are more self-aware of our strengths and weaknesses than others, I always recommend that in addition to answering these questions you use at least one other leadership assessment technique, such as the Hogan Leadership Survey or LeaderGrade tool.

Assessments can add insight into needed changes, but can also provide an unbiased view of your behavior.

Another option to increase your leadership success is observational feedback which can provide you with information on how individuals view your key leadership competencies as compared to your organization’s leadership competency model.

Planning to Implement Change 

Planning to implement change is often the time when an executive coach is asked for assistance. Co-developing a personal development plan with the leader and coaching them through the necessary behavioral changes are effective to creating sustainable change.

Using an internal coach is also an effective way to create a permanent change.

The advantage to using an internal coach is their organizational knowledge, while the disadvantage is the potential concern regarding confidentiality of the executive being coached.

Whether you choose an internal or external coach, coaching will provide you with a systematic and proven method to create long-term change.

Adapting to Change

You and your organization have had to adapt to the economic changes that have occurred over the last several years.  Adapting requires both personal as well as organizational changes.

Personal changes first need to be identified by you, others around you, and via an unbiased assessment tool.  Then a development plan is created, and a coach identified to work with you for sustainable change.

So, how are you doing in identifying, understanding, and adapting to change? As a leader, can you look back and see where you fell flat and failed in a transitional time? How could have you done it differently? Have you had success in this arena? What did you do right? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

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Beth Armknecht Miller, CMC is President of Executive Velocity Inc.
She is a change leadership advisor and executive development coach
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Web | 678-579-9191

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Leadership Follies – Moving Furniture In a Burning House

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Anil Saxena

House on Fire

Do you ever wonder if people running out of a burning house are thinking about rearranging the furniture? Would you think them crazy if they did?  

And yet this is what we do so often in business. We run around doing things that don’t matter and really don’t make much sense…

We are often ignoring the real issues of leadership and process, and spend our precious time just looking at rearranging boxes on an organization chart. Reorganizing the staff can sometimes be just a blind stalling tactic that let’s us feel like we are doing something important.

Fire?  What Fire

Organizations have historically used reorganizations to solve real performance problems that really don’t have anything to do with structure.

For example, here are some real problems that a reorganization can help fix:

  • Ineffective leadership
  • Lack of accountability
  • Lack of, or poor, project/program prioritization
  • Poor internal or external communication
  • Few real measures to understand effectiveness of service (internal and external)
  • No cohesive/holistic approach to outsourcing or using vendors

As a by-product of many mergers and rapid growth, many organizational structures are unruly, but not untenable.

With competition nipping or gnawing at their heels, fundamental changes are usually in order and not just moving people from one side of the organizational chart to the other.

What is Rearranging?

 Reorganization is defined as:

re·or·gan·i·za·tion  (r-ôrg-n-zshn)n.

1. The act or process of organizing again or differently.
2. A thorough alteration of the structure of a business corporation.

Or quotes found from folks I know:

  • “Or perhaps you mean the kind of corporate lunacy that induces people who are far removed from operational reality to decide that they need to ‘shake things up‘ in the organization to ‘spur productivity‘ and ‘improve bottom-line results‘, without having a clue as to the true cost of their decision.”
  • “Layoffs“
  • “Reorganization is a ‘friendly term’ management uses to make significant structural/organizational/position changes more palatable when people are about to get ‘moved around.’”

Suffice it to say, most people do not think random reorganizations work well or at all.

Putting the Fire Out First 

The most important thing is to deal with what is really broken.

  • If leadership is not effective, help the leaders gain skills to become better leaders or find new ones.
  • If people aren’t being held accountable, set up processes to do so.
  • If project prioritization is an issue, make sure to create a forum to have all the key stakeholders discuss and agree upon project priorities and resources.

Essentially, deal with the real problem head on.

Don’t be naive; reorganizations are necessary, but are not the answer to all organizational issues.

Rearranging the Furniture Will Not Put Out the Fire

There are times that restructuring does cause increases in positive outcomes. However, more often than not they fail.

Although there are thousands of reasons why, they mostly boil down to three themes:

1. Employee and Leader Resistance

Employees and affected leaders often believe the reorganization is a result of inability to make tough decisions or other non-business related rationale.

People hate change.

Change actually causes a reaction in the prefrontal cortex that has people resist change initially.  Outside of a very few occasions, everyone resists change regardless if it is good or bad.

If it’s determined to be necessary, make sure that the rationale for the reorganization is steeped in facts that point to improved performance.  Although people may still grumble, it is hard to argue with facts.

2. Timing is Horrible

Lenny Bruce said:

“Timing is everything.”  

Nothing could be more true when it comes to reorganizations. It is important to undertake a reorganization only during a slower time in the business cycle.

 If that is not possible, it should not be in the midst of other big changes or at peak times.

If FedEx were to restructure, doing it between Thanksgiving and Christmas in America would not be a good time.

3. The Scope and Impact of the reorganization is not realistic or fully thought through

Doing these two things will set you up for failure:

  1. Trying to turn a team around in very short time frame.
  2. Adding a large amount of responsibility to a team that does not have the capacity.

Change does not have to happen all at once. It should not be thought of as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

Trying to get everything into one reorganization too quickly is like trying to jam 40 kilos of potatoes into a 10 kilo sack: something will break.

If the furniture really does need to be moved, then Move It.

Be clear about the issues that cause the lower productivity, efficiency, etc.   It is imperative that the real issues causing reduced productivity, profit, etc. are being addressed.

As a result of taking some actions to “put out the fire” a reorganization can be a natural outcome.  Make sure that the new structure works to address these issues.

Moving boxes on an organization chart will not solve deep-seated issues of performance and productivity.  It is vital to take time in determining what the true issues are.

Making the Reorganization Successful

Plan or the “Dip In the Delta”

Change will impact performance, but you can make that a positive.  That is why it is undertaken in the first place. The magic is knowing how to mitigate the dip in productivity and turn that quickly into a positive.  This takes planning and thought.

 Make sure you are actively working on how to utilize the change to solve organizational and productivity problems

Get Buy-In from Leaders, Employees, and Other Key Stakeholders

Make sure that the people impacted by the change not only buy in, but are “pulling for it” before it happens.

Make Sure the Process and Metrics Are In Place

There is nothing worse than not being able to accurately tell if the reorganization is really making a difference. Make sure there are agreed upon metrics to measure organizational performance to showcase wins and point out where more needs to be done.

Hone internal processes to ensure that performance gains can be realized.

Make sure that internal communication, project prioritization, and other key processes are known, used, and enforced to maximize the impact of the reorganization.

Take Care of Employees and Leaders After the Reorganization.

Reorganizations and change initiatives in general fail if focus is taken off the change once it’s implemented or goes live.

This is a huge mistake.

The most important work and most critical time to focus is right after the reorganization takes place.

Leaders need training and support, employees need to know where to find answers and express concerns, and customers need to continue to be served and find resolution to problems when they arise

There Must Be a Willingness to Take On More Change, Just Not too Quickly

Nothing is ever perfect the first time.

It’s okay to tweak structure and process once it’s been in place for a little while if its not working. In fact, if you don’t people will learn to get around things to get what they need.

If a change is not working, admit it, but only if there is proof that it’s not working. Once time has been given to make the change work and it is proven to be unsuccessful, change it again.

Remember: Put Out the Fire First, and then Redecorate

Reorganizations can be a powerful tool to support organizational change.  They can be a tool in increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization.  But it is imperative that the real underlying issues of low performance are taken care of first.

Without that, no matter how well the sofa looks against the wall, the house will still burn down.

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Anil Saxena is a Senior Consultant and Business Partner with Coffman Organization
He helps organizations create environments that generate repeatable superior results
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Leadership Lesson from Captain Picard

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Bryan Moore

Captain Picard

Leadership lessons come from all sorts of different places.  Persons, events, articles, conversations, quotes, scriptures. Some intended as motivational and inspirational, some happenstance and epiphanic.

As a fan of the sci-fi genre, I have spent too much time traveling “where no person has gone before.”

While those hours at first blush may seem like time lost that could have been “sharpening the ax,” there is, however, at least one leadership lesson that can be learned from Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise.

With the immense scope of the universe laid out before them and untold adventures and dangers awaiting them, the crew poised at their posts awaiting the command to go to warp, Captain Picard stands stoically on the bridge and barks out the order, “Engage!”

On Being Indifferent

A recent poll by Gallup describes the incredible challenge that faces business leaders.

According to Gallup:

A majority of American workers are not engaged at work, only 29% of workers polled are engaged at work, 52% are not engaged and 19% are “actively disengaged.”

These results are similar across many demographics, are not influenced by earnings level and have held relatively steady for years.

Years ago I took an executive position at company that had been profitable for years but lacked effective leadership. Within the company I found several persons of influence that had “checked out.”

As I began to connect with them, to understand where the company had been, where it had been successful and get a history of the company; I heard a lot of “whatevers” and “don’t cares.”

Top 50 Blogs for Future Leaders

On Love and Hate and Passion

Those responses showed the depth of the indifference within the company. These individuals had become disengaged.

“The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. Indifference is the complete lack of passion.”

Love and hate are both passion words. Both indicate strong emotions or passion regarding the subject. Both can be channeled into positive actions. Indifference can not be controlled or predicted.

“Indifference is a cancer to your organization.”

As leaders we are compelled to engender interest, excitement and passion in the persons within the organization. For the good of the individuals and for the good of the organization.

Curt Rosengren at Passion Catalyst , defines passion as

“The energy that comes from bringing more of YOU into what you do.”

On Being Charismatic

The natural question then is this:

What can we do as leaders to engage our people, to engender passion in them, to get them to bring more of themselves into what they do?

The leadership trait best associated with this is charisma.

Charismatic figures almost indescribably draw people to their cause, make people want to follow them, to believe in their purpose, to go beyond normal means to assist.

Fortunately for us mere mortals, charisma is not simply a God-given gift, it is not an angelic stream of light that shines from above illuminating the head and shoulders of the anointed few. Charisma is the ability to:

  • Be genuine
  • Be caring
  • Be communicative
  • Be passionate
  • Be “other person” centered
  • Be committed to a common-good goal
  • Be tireless in seeing that all individuals are rewarded equally

In order to do this we must communicate effectively.

For communication to be effective it requires empathic listening.

To Be Engaged

Many times as managers of businesses we cringe at the site of people standing around talking, being unproductive.

Ironically, it is incumbent on us to allow our employee to separate themselves from their tasks long enough that we can talk to the person rather than the employee. Get to understand each individual, what makes them tick, find out what their passions are, find out what their fears are.

“Only by knowing the individual can we hope to discover where and how they fit into the big picture. Only by them knowing that we care that they fit into the big picture, will we be able to engage them in work necessary to achieve.”

As leaders, we owe it to the organization and we owe it to the individuals within organization, to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to be engaged.

A percentage of employees are going to be actively disengaged and there isn’t much we can do about that. These people have decided to move on, for what ever reason. They still deserve our attention and empathy.

We still need to engage those that appear to be lost, if not for the benefit of the employee, then for the benefit of the organization and the leader. We can often learn more from our failures than our successes if we embrace them.

To Disengage

It is the larger group, the ‘not engaged’, that holds the monumental challenge for leadership and the organization. Clearly an organization can not be successful with 50% of the employees not performing at their peak.

The call to leadership requires that we actively communicate, motivate, empower, and facilitate the growth of the individuals with whom we have been entrusted.

Authority is first and foremost responsibility. If we have employees that are not engaged, we, as leaders, are at fault.

It is easy to sit back and say well that person did this or said that and dismiss them. For the good of the organization and the individual, we, as leaders, must make every attempt to get them re-engaged.

Our responsibility to the individual is to listen and understand. We need help them to see the big picture, to make sure that they understand their role in the picture and to help them to achieve their best within their role.

So here is a leadership lesson from the future that we can all learn today. If you want to boldly take your organization where none have gone before; “Engage!”

How can we as leaders get people more engaged? How successful have you been at eliminating indifference from your organization? What can you do as a leader to create the kind of environment where engagement and personal inspiration increases? I would love to hear your comments!

**********

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—————–
Bryan Moore is Owner of Lion’s Head Consulting
Helping business to to become, to achieve, to excel
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Leadership Follies: Training Is Not A Cure-All

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Anil Saxena

TrainingFor many years consultants and experts have tried to convince leaders that training can impact performance. It seems like the problem is no longer that they don’t believe that training is important, but that now those same leaders thing that training is the “cure-all” or “silver-bullet.”

“What has made people think that training people will magically make them more effective, efficient and overall higher performing?”  

Well, we told them it would.  But, we did too good of a job. We have too many people thinking that “training is a cure-all” for all leadership sins.

Training Feels Like the Right Thing

Problem:

My team is not performing up to expectations…

Solution:

Well, train them to perform better!

Problem:

My team is suffering from low morale…

Solution:

Well, train them… Of course!

Uhm… Really??? Do you actually think that ‘training is the cure-all?

Leaders and organizations are so concerned about making quick changes and hitting quarterly numbers that they are always looking for the fastest way to make employees “better.”

Training feels like the right thing. And in some cases it can be, But this is the case only if it used properly. Remember that it is an arrow in the quiver that is needed to solve organizational issues and not just the the bow and arrow.

About $5.6 billion to $16.8 billion is wasted annually on ineffective training programs. ~Cary Cherniss, Rutgers University

According to improvement consultant Jim Clemmer, most organizations use their training investments about as strategically as they deploy their office supplies spending.

In the end, the impact on customer satisfaction, cost containment, or quality improvement is just as useless.

Using Training Wisely

Training is an excellent way to help people increase their skill or learn about a big change. It is not a method to change behavior, And it is certainly not effective without set up and follow up.

A great way to think about using training is this:

  • Develop an overall plan to alter organizational performance, introduce effective processes, and show how training will fit in.
  • Make sure that people understand why they are being trained.
  • Create the training course so that they have a tangible outcome or things they can use right away.
  • Discuss the training with the group or individual very soon after the training.
  • Set new expectations for performance once the training is completed.
  • Allow time for the training to take.
  • Communicate with people as if the training has worked.

“Training as a stand alone tool is like trying lose weight with exercise alone.”

It’s a lot of work and only gets you 20 to 30 percent of the solution desired. In order train in the most effective way, your training needs to be part of a larger plan designed for a particular outcome. It is a great tool to support change or introduce new concepts.

The key is that training needs to be put into context of the larger effort.

Simple Rules

Just remember these three simple rules if you want to succeed:

  1. You can train skill; You cannot train will.
  2. Training is a great tool, but not the only tool for change
  3. Training is not magic and will NOT solve every problem. You can’t train away the blues.

Organizations that use training as the panacea will quickly see that people will not take to the training and in turn, resent it.

So, do you have a strategy for the training systems that you use? Does your training plan fit into a larger organizational strategy? Are you making sure that the training that you pay for is being used effectively? Are you paying enough attention to the ROI of your training budget? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Anil Saxena is a Senior Consultant and Business Partner with Corpus Optima
He helps organizations create environments that generate repeatable superior results
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog | (800) 267-1530 x711

Image Sources: cruxaustralisgroup.com

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