One of the ways a leader demonstrates competence is through the achievement of results. In his book Leading at the Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey says that credibility is composed of four cores: integrity and intent (part of “character”); capabilities and results (part of “competence”).
Achievement of results is one of the cores of competence, which is part of credibility, which provides the foundation for trust. Without trust, a leader is just taking a walk. There are no followers.
So to improve leadership skills and the influence you have on people, check your “results record”. What are your “numbers”? What outcomes have you achieved through people?
Notice that I said “achieved through people”. Good leaders achieve results through people. Leaders don’t meet that production deadline all by themselves. Leaders don’t develop a new program which nets hundreds of thousands of dollars all by themselves.
With so much at stake, how do you ensure you are getting results through others? One way is to set performance expectations and monitor their fulfillment. As a leader, you draw parameters under which people need to perform. Performance expectations provide the specific data, numbers, dates, etc. to achieve. You would not place a group of twelve people on a soccer field, tell them to “begin”, pay them some arbitrary sum of money, and report random numbers to the client at random intervals. You would inform the group of the client’s goals and requirements. Together with the twelve people, you would develop ideas for ways to achieve those goals---acting toward the common objectives of pleasing the client and getting paid for the final product. You would inform the group about the size of the field, the regulations that lead to turning over the ball, the various methods of moving the ball down field, etc. In other words, you would provide the rules of play. These establish order, predictability, and stability in performance. These expectations create a high performing team of twelve people.
In a work environment, there can be three attitudes: chaos, stability, and high performance.
Chaos is an environment filled with attitudes of alienation and noncompliance.
- Boss: “Can you two complete this project today? It was due a couple of days ago.”
- Worker 1: “I have to leave early today.”
- Worker 2: “I told you we couldn't meet that deadline. It was unrealistic!”
- Boss: “It needs to be done. The customer expects it. What can I do to help?”
- Worker 1: “Take my kid to the doctor. That’s why I have to leave early today.”
- Worker 2: “I just don’t think it can be done. This place always sets goals too high---just to meet what the customer wants. What about what we want?”
Stability reflects attitudes of conformity and compliance.
- Worker 1: “Hey, can you help me with this report? I’m not understanding the numbers, since the front office decided to change the goals and the way they are tracked.”
- Worker 2: “Sure. They changed the way goals are tracked to fit better in our MIS. On this spreadsheet, the main headers are listed. Then, you click on the red link…..for each of the goals. Each link takes you to a different section of the EggItOn time lapse data system.”
- Worker 1: “Oh, I see it now. Yes, this change will make the information flow better and will be more understandable to the stockholders. Thanks for your help.”
High performance reflects an attitude of high trust and collaboration.
- Worker 1: “Hello! I wanted you to know that the project is finished….I believe we came in a day early.”
- Team Leader: “Awesome! I appreciate your efforts”
- Worker 1: “It was important to get this done well for our client. Oh, by the way….David helped me finish this ahead of schedule. I couldn't have done it without him.”
- Team Leader walks around office. “Hey David. Thanks for getting Project Boomerang done ahead of schedule. I understand you helped out.”
- Worker 2: “Yes, I did. But you should know that Joy stayed late a couple of nights ago in order to lay the groundwork. I couldn't have finished my part without her laying that foundation.”
To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.
Post a Comment