How to Become a Light in the Fog
I’ve heard managers complain, “These people just don’t get it.”
Poor management is the reason people inside organizations are in the fog.
Impose the job of creating clarity on yourself. Stop complaining about people who don’t get it. Confusion in others is your opportunity to become a light in the fog.
Lean into confusion, not away from it. Confusion is your friend.
Managers who embrace and then solve confusion move forward. Everyone else is lost in the fog, even if they’re working hard.
Ron Wallace, former president of UPS International has a plan for lifting the fog.
4 ways to become a light in the fog:
#1. State your expectations and then follow up.
“There is nothing more frustrating for motivated people than not knowing exactly what is expected of them.” Ron Wallace in Leadership Lessons from a UPS Driver
- Describe the results you want.
- Explain the standards the results must meet.
- Define the deadline. (Is it flexible or set.)
- Set the budget.
- Identify resources.
- Relate any constraints (sacred cows to avoid).
- Establish the when and how of reporting progress.
- Outline how performance will be measured.
- Make yourself available to help.
#2. Translate expectations into deliverables.
Explain expectations. Don’t tell talented people how to deliver. “You placed these people in positions because they know how to do it.” Wallace
#3. Hold people accountable.
“If you don’t follow through with both inspections and acknowledgements, it is easy for people to think that what they’re doing isn’t important.” Wallace
#4. Check your own progress regularly.
“The gap between a leader’s expectations and a follower’s actions is usually more about their relationship than it is about matters of substance.” Wallace
You find success by delivering results through relationships.
How might leaders/managers create greater clarity?
I’ve always believed in..
–Simple
–Clear
–Consistent
these three have served me well (and at times challenged me! — am I being Consistent? -ouch!)
Great thoughts today, thank you again, Dan
Thanks Ken. Brilliant. It starts with finding simplicity for me.
When thinking about managers who say, “They just don’t get it!” I recall the quote from John Wooden: “You haven’t taught until they have learned.” Perhaps we may paraphrase. “You haven’t led until they get it.”
Employees’ lack of job success and engagement starts with the CEO.
CEOs hire the managers.
Managers hire the employees.
Employees don’t hire themselves.
When there are disengaged or problem employees we need not look beyond managers and executives.
* Too many employees are in the wrong jobs, i.e., management errors.
* Too many managers are in the wrong jobs, i.e., executive errors.
* Too many executives are in the wrong jobs, i.e., CEO errors.
* Too many managers and executives Reward A hoping for B.
* Poorly behaving employees are tolerated, i.e., management errors.
* Poorly behaving managers are tolerated, i.e., executive errors.
* Poorly behaving executives are tolerated, i.e., CEO errors.
In other words, we get who we hire and who we promote.
If a CEO believes that hiring talent means hiring employees, then s/he is doomed to fail at talent acquisition and talent management.
* Before we can manage talent we need to hire talent.
* Before we can hire talent we need to find talent.
* Before we can find talent we need to know what talent looks like.
* Before we can know what talent looks like we need to know how to measure talent.
* Before we can know how to measure talent we need to know how to identify talent.
* Before we can identify talent we need to define talent.
* Before we can define talent we need to ask, “How do I define talent?”
This is not rocket science but few employers know how to do it effectively.
Great post! Building relationships is key. It needs to be a reciprocal relationship where you add value to each other consistently, and that builds trust.
Dan,
Excellent analogies today, works for me!
We tend to complicate things with too much information sometimes, I think Ken has it right and absolutely try to “keep it simple”!.
Cheers
Loving this article. The simplicity of it is fantastic and it helps show how leaders have to make sure they are not allowing their leadership to be weak by blaming the comprehension of their bottomline