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by Kelly Riggs
“The first thing that I learned was results matter. At the end of the day, no matter how much somebody respectsyour intellect or your capabilities or how much they like you, in the end it is all about results in the business context.”
Nancy McKinstry, C.E.O. of Wolters Kluwer
Human nature is fairly predictable when it comes to failure.
When people fail, the overwhelming tendency is to attach blame to something or someone – or some combination of the two.
But, in analyzing someone else’s failure, we typically identify something negative about the individual – laziness, for example – and attribute the reason for failure to them directly.
In fact, this is so common that psychologists have a label for it: fundamental attribution error.
So, to review:
My failure: I blame something or someone else.
Your failure: clearly it’s your fault.
Sound about right?
Of course, we could discuss the merits of failure, and why a little bit of failure can be a good thing in terms of teaching and personal development and all that, but that’s not the point of this discussion.
What I want to discuss is the role that leaders play, usually unwittingly, in creating and facilitating failure.
Yes, you heard that right.
As a manager, you can easily be guilty of creating the circumstances where employees fail, and, at the same time, provide the built-in excuses for the employee to use for the failure. Fortunately, places like Development Academy offer a line manager training course, which could limit instances of this if utilised.
So, let’s look at three specific practices of managers that create better performance.
“One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people’s excuses for failure.”
Former AVIS CEO, Robert Townsend
This is one of my favorite leadership quote of all time. It implies – accurately, I believe – the significant role that leaders play in the way employees deal with failure.
There are a few common excuses that people often use to explain away their responsibility for failure that are made possible by things that leaders fail to do.
Here are two of the most common:
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know how.
If someone doesn’t know, then clearly we haven’t communicated well.
If someone doesn’t know how, then clearly we haven’t trained effectively.
So, who is responsible for employee communication and training?
In the military environment, where the impact can range from minor all the way to the extreme (loss of life), failure in any given task is attributed to one of four major causes. Those four causes are as follows (adapted from the US Military Academy):
1. Standards are unclear, impractical, or nonexistent (a standards failure).
2. Standards exist, but are not known (a training failure).
3. Standards are known but not enforced (a leadership failure).
4. Standards are known but not followed (an individual failure).
In the military, the objective is to make each and every failure in any task something that is created by the individual rather than the system or its leadership.
The reason is simple: if the system or the leader is at fault, a built-in excuse for failure exists.
As a result, there is no focus on the individual’s role in the failure, and it is difficult to dial up an improvement in performance.
First, then, let’s eliminate some of the common excuses for failure. Here’s how:
Ensure that employees have the resources they need to do their jobs successfully; otherwise, the lack of resources becomes an immediate excuse for failure.
Ensure that employees are trained to do their jobs well; otherwise, a lack of training becomes a convenient excuse for failure. For example, you could ensure that all those in charge of project management learn some tips for using Microsoft Project via a course to patch that knowledge gap in your workplace.
Ensure that clear, well-defined objectives exist for the task or project; otherwise, the lack of clarity becomes an easy excuse for failure. It might be possible to secure the assurance of clarity by using task management apps, such as those offered by Rock or similar firms offering business solutions. Using such apps, you can assign tasks to employees and monitor the work status of all those involved in the task.
That said, by doing these three things, a leader eliminates common excuses for failure, improves the system as a whole, and guarantees that performance will improve.
“It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are
explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.”
Harold S. Geneen
People can promise results, or they may make excuses for their lack of results, but in the final analysis it is only the actual performance that really matters.
In sales, for example, actual orders count. Everything else is just talk.
In the world of sports, there are plenty of players that talk a good game, but other players, as announcers like to say, simply let their performance do the talking.
In your mission to improve individual and team performance, a critical factor is communicating very clear expectations. A team’s objective can be clear enough, but each individual on the team should have specific performance standards.
On the topic of communicating, it’s also important that you provide them with a reliable means to communicate. You can’t expect them to do their best work if it’s difficult for them to communicate with each other and their clients. Take a look into this VoIP Adapter and how it can help your business.
More importantly, individual performance must be measured against that standard and reviewed consistently.
“Measurement eliminates argument.”
(A quote I borrowed from a gentleman by the name of Fred Gleeck.)
A great example of this concept is provided by almost any sports team. These teams have clear objectives – to win, to score a certain number of points or limit the opponent to a certain number of points, or to achieve other key performance standards.
But what about individual players? How do they contribute to those objectives?
At the professional level, every player knows exactly what is expected and how his/her play contributes to the team’s ultimate objective of winning the game. More importantly, those things are measured and reviewed consistently.
If each employee doesn’t have specific individual expectations for performance, they will find it easier to hide and/or explain away sub-par performance.
Especially if the team as a whole is doing well.
“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectations.”
Charles F. Kettering
If employees see themselves as simply doing a “job” every day, and don’t have a sense of purpose or mission, they will rarely create superior results.
To create a “performance mentality,” you must first create a compelling vision for your team. Who are you? What do you want to be know for? What sets you apart from everyone else?
Imagine a football or basketball game where no one keeps score and no one cares who wins. Will players play at the very highest level throughout the entire game, hoping to achieve their very best?
Unlikely.
And yes, by the way, there is a time and place for simply playing a game to have fun without any regard for performance.
The workplace, however, is not that place.
“A” players typically find great personal satisfaction in achievement or learning new skills or tackling more difficult projects. Find out who they are and set high expectations for them. Given the opportunity to push the envelope, they will often surprise you with what they are capable of doing, especially if their compensation is tied to excellence.
Of course, the opposite is true. If employees who yearn for the opportunity to get better, move up, or tackle more difficult assignments don’t get the opportunity, they will slowly disengage as they look for opportunities elsewhere.
Make no mistake, the manager is the team’s leader, and he or she is the one who determines what kind of environment the employees experience. To create the very best team performance, a manager must create a workplace environment that leads to a “performance mentality.”
Kelly Riggs is a business performance coach and founder of the Business LockerRoom. A former national Salesperson of the Year and serial entrepreneur, Kelly is a recognized thought leader in the areas of sales, management leadership, and strategic planning. He serves clients ranging from small, privately held companies to Fortune 500 firms. Kelly has written two books: “1-on-1 Management™: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don’t” and “Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales.”
