The Heart of Engagement : Leadership Development, Management Education, Retreat Facilitation & Executive Coaching : Mike Cook : AMJ Group

                         “The sins of the father shall be visited on the sons”

                                                                               (Exodus 20:5)

This year, the year before this, next year and the year following next year there will be innumerable gatherings of professionals in conference after conference addressing practices to elevate employee engagement. HR pro’s will talk to each other. Engagement pro’s will talk to each other. Labor and OD the same…and while they are all away they’ll get a report that some manager back home pulled off a spectacular demonstration of “Dumb @ss”¹behavior that will set back everything they have been working hard to achieve.

I can hear us all now as we gather…

“Can you believe it?”

“What was she thinking?”

“And he was supposed to be one of our best!”

“Wait til you hear this; you are not going to believe it!”

“Well, at least we’ve got job security, cleaning up these messes!”

When I first joined “corporate America” in early 1973 I was a pretty naïve guy with a Master’s in Labor Relations fresh from Michigan State. Arriving in New Jersey, employed as an HR Generalist in a mid-sized refinery where our plant employees were represented by the Teamsters, I was finally ready to join that big “team” I knew was waiting for me out there. Let’s just say that the awakening I experienced was RUDE!

Turns out it wasn’t one big team and we didn’t play together all that well. If that wasn’t a sufficient disappointment, I was regularly treated to displays of “Dumb @ss” behavior on the part of managers and unfortunately some of the worst offenders were the very senior people.

Thirty seven years later I continue to hear reports of the same behaviors I encountered “back in the day.” The examples I refer to are not exotic, they are ones we all know: rating all employees in a merit pool as Above Average so everyone is eligible for an increase, changing a performance review written by a subordinate manager because you don’t agree with their appraisal, producing ‘Satisfactory’ or better performance reviews for employees who everyone knows are sub-par, transferring sub-par employees without dealing with performance issues, etc..

The truth is, when it comes to managing people there really isn’t that much new under the sun. There are just repeat offenses and often by repeat offenders. It is this habitual pattern of our tolerance for repeat offenses and the offenders which I want us to consider.

Allow me to re-introduce you to a couple of colleagues I hold in high regard, Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden. These two author/speaker/consultants wrote what I believe is a seminal work on employee engagement ‘Contented Cows Give Better Milk’ in 2000. They are engagement pioneers.

Bill Catlette regularly publishes a very down-to-earth monthly newsletter titled ‘Fresh Milk.’ This past week he included a piece on managers being mindful of the difference between authority they have and the wisdom of using it just because they have it. In the midst of his counsel he offered this bit of wisdom, “…we have yet to see, for example, a bullying or self-absorbed boss get more Discretionary Effort from a worker than a caring, authentic leader.” Later in the piece Bill reminds us, “With things like institutional loyalty and job security off the table, today’s workers make frequent, rapid fire "worth-its" decisions in which they decide whether or not to give their manager or the organization the benefit of the doubt, and a morsel of their Discretionary Effort.” The full post itself is concerned with responding to a question from a reader on whether it is legal for a manager to arbitrarily change a work schedule. Bill responds in his usual thoughtful manner, not just to the reader’s question but to the larger issue and lesson available in the background.

The ground Bill did not cover but might have if the question were asked differently was this; where were this manager’s peers and superior in the midst of this situation? Without regard to either the “rightness” or righteousness of this manager’s actions, were they called into question by anyone at the same level? All too often as managers ourselves we witness behavior that at first glance smacks of the “Dumb @ss” and we allow it to pass unchallenged for whatever “Dumb @ss” reason we have. We even aid and abet the “Dumb @ss” behavior before it happens by allowing people we know to be mighty capable of @asshole² behavior to be selected as managers in the first place.   

[ ^1&2  The term “Dumb @ss”  used when referring to behavior is a derived from the terrific work Dr. Bob Sutton has done in alerting us to beware of @ssholes in our midst. His blog, Work Matters is among my favorites. ]

There is no technique or practice in any book or at any conference that will rid us of the damages done by behavior that is thoughtless on a manager’s part. And such behavior will continue as long as we tolerate 1) the elevation of inappropriate people to positions of authority 2) failure to properly orient and support new managers and 3) standing by and watching as our peers or even superiors “act out” patterns of personal behavior that are obviously misaligned with best interests of either company or employees simply to serve personal gratification.

• Where do you currently see an opportunity to intervene with another manager and you’ve been putting it off for some “Dumb @ss” reason?

If you are looking into ways to improve the quality and completing rates of your company's employees try finding solutions with performance appraisal tools from Halogen.

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“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

                                                  Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, 600≈ BC

Alright sissies, listen up! You read and read about Ten Ways to Develop Yourself as a Leader, Eight Sure Fire Ways to Get People to Follow Your Lead, Five Things to Think About Before You Start Your leadership Career, etc. etc. There are any number of articles and books you have on your shelves telling you what a leader DOES and you think maybe if you buy just this one more, especially since it is by Tom Peters, and read it thoroughly, maybe you will finally BE a leader*. The critical factor most of us forget while trying to figure out what to DO, if we ever even realized it before, is that we are playing a game set up by someone else and the odds are stacked in favor of certain outcomes even before we accept the position.

*Alan Keith, as quoted by Kouzes and Posner in 'The Leadership Challenge' stated that, "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen."

With these words of Alan Keith’s in mind maybe it is legitimate to ask if you are a leader at all or perhaps someone holding a management position being referred to as a leader. There is nothing lacking in being a manager but leadership is a different game. To check this out answer yourself this question: When was the last time people caused something extraordinary to happen on your watch?

If you are working in any formalized organizational structure there are any number of natural leadership challenges that are handled by the system in which your position is embedded before you ever assume your role inside a management hierarchy. To learn about authentic leadership you might want to watch some of the experienced folks in your organization who operate effectively without title or authority.

Better yet, if you want to see an example of leadership that is caused rather than assumed, I’ll call it “Freestyle Leadership”, take a trip to Benton Harbor, Michigan** and visit the offices of the Harbor Shores Transformational Center at 88 West Main Street in the heart of downtown. (Watch some of the videos)

( **Policom Corporation unveiled its 2010 rankings of the economic strength of the top 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the US in late spring. Benton Harbor made the list at #347. Things could be worse!)

Before you arrive at the offices of The Consortium for Community Development which houses the Harbor Shores Transformation Center you may want to call ahead if you’d like to meet the President, Marcus Robinson. The day I visited, late on a Friday afternoon, Marcus had been expecting me and when I arrived he was on the phone. We are old friends so when he held up five fingers I knew he meant he’d be with me in about five minutes. An hour later I had walked across the street for coffee and given myself a brief walking tour of the downtown area and he was still hard at the conversation. When he finally did emerge from behind his phone he said that he’d been involved with matters related to the Benton Harbor school system. I asked how his role as a Community Developer called for his involvement with schools. His response really didn’t surprise me and it goes to the heart of what I mean when I coin the phrase “Freestyle Leadership.” He said that in a town like Benton Harbor, if you demonstrate that you are someone who can get things to happen you become a ‘go to’ guy.

Clearly the record of accomplishment that Marcus has become associated with since arriving in Benton Harbor in late 2004 has established him in the eyes of many in the local area as a 'go to' guy. Marcus will be the first to admit that many people have contributed to the achievements realized in Benton Harbor since he was hand picked for his role by the now retired CEO of Whirlpool Corporation, Dave Whitwam. These two first met when they were working together to develop Whirlpool as a much more inclusive culture as it continued to globalize in the early 2000's. In Marcus, Dave recognized someone who was already well developed for a role as catalyst for the reinvention of the Benton Harbor area. He is someone who instinctively works to influence, not convince, and his style is much like that described in the earlier opening words from Lao Tzu, he works in the background.

I asked him how he likes to be referred to in the role he plays in Benton Harbor. He said, " It works best for me if people refer to me as Marcus, anything else and I find myself getting painted into a corner and limited in terms of what I can engage with."

No authority, no rules, no limits and no guarantees. Operating from vision and responsibility with an understanding that unless people end up with a sense of what they have done for themselves the real job has not gotten done. I think at some point Lao Tzu, Alan Keith and Marcus Robinson would enjoy having a cup of tea together.

• Where can you free yourself of the shackles of the institution and unleash the human spirit around you?

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For most of his 50+ year film making career, Sean Connery has entertained audiences by repeatedly playing one type of character. Dashing, unpredictable, unmanageable to be sure, we are not quite sure he is a hero, but we are glad he works for our side. Great stuff for the silver screen but not much of a leadership model. Ironically, his greatest professional honor, an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, came while playing the consummate team player, Officer Jimmy Malone in the 1987 movie version of “The Untouchables.”

In this film Connery’s character assumed the role of “leadership coach” for the young, passionate but naïve Elliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner. In what may be Malone’s most memorable scene, he delivers a brief soliloquy on how Ness can best deal with his arch enemy, Al Capone…

“You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital; you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?”

                             Officer Jimmy Malone, The Untouchables, 1987

Throughout the film, Officer Malone offers the younger Ness an ongoing stream of this plain speak on how to deal effectively with his foes. In one instances he delivers his message with the aid of a classic rhetorical question when a gangster draws a knife and attempts to stab Ness and winds up shot dead in the process. “Isn’t that just like a #@&**#?,” he asks, “Brings a knife to a gun fight!”

Could any message be clearer? If indeed we do need a translation, the Urban Dictionary offers this… ‘Bringing a knife to a gun fight- The act of taking an amount of any substance to a gathering which is obviously insufficient.’ (This site also offers to sell you T-Shirts, coffee cups and fridge magnets emblazoned with this saying. I’ll leave decisions on such offers to your judgment!)

Last week I was reminded of this later bit of leadership counsel from Officer Malone in an exchange I was having with officials at my son’s college. It seems that a piece of equipment my son borrowed from the school last spring was noted as damaged upon its return. I was made aware of this situation when I went to pay his fall tuition and was barred from doing so by a flag in his record indicating that the damage needed to be paid for before he would be allowed to register.

I contacted my son who said he was aware of the damage and noticed it when he originally picked up the piece of equipment. Since it did not affect the functionality of the equipment, he didn’t pay any further attention. Unfortunately he should have brought the damage to the attention of the department personnel when he borrowed the equipment. They didn’t see the issue until the equipment was returned and the cost of repair was $120.

Based on my son’s explanation, I did not see that we should bear the full cost but also recognized that the department had nothing to go on either except the testimony of one of their employee’s. I proposed to the supervisor that we split the difference equally since we had on our hands what amounted to a “he said, he said” situation. The supervisor replied by saying he was not authorized to make such an arrangement. This is where Officer Jimmy Malone’s words came back to me in a flash of recognition, “Isn’t that just like a #@&**#? He brings a knife to a gun fight!”

At that moment the supervisor probably felt as though he was standing there naked as I blurted out, “You are kidding right, you cannot make a decision on what amounts to a $60 transaction?” Two levels of management later I was able to conclude the conversation with the department director agreeing to my proposal!

It really doesn’t matter the name of my son’s school and it doesn’t even matter that it was a school, it could just as easily have been a manufacturing company’s service department, and the lesson would have been the same.

We ask our managers to lead, to inspire, to direct others in producing results of all kinds and yet we limit their authority in ways that leave them humiliated in front of their charges or the customer. These very same people, who, in their private lives, can purchase automobiles worth thousands of dollars, enter into mortgage arrangements for hundreds of thousands of dollars; bring children into the world without asking our permission…need our approval for trivial transactions. Why?

Before you get all “Sarbanes Oxley” with me or “but, but, but you don’t understand,” just stop! Whatever you are going to say next…that…that right there that you were going to say…is craaaaaap!

Engagement and power are inseparable. If our managers are dis-empowered how can we expect their engagement at anything other than a compliance level? Why would we ever expect them to inspire or be inspired themselves?

• Where have we 'hog-tied' our managers and are wondering why they under perform?
• If you are a manager; where are you constrained by practices that do not seem to respect your abilities to make sound choices, and you are putting up with it?

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“Can it possibly get any worse?
If you thought Tiger Woods' career was at low ebb, then you were wrong. Last week, the tide not only receded, he got stuck in the primordial muck and produced the most head-turning display on the golf course in his career, finishing 30 strokes behind Hunter Mahan at a course where he had never before finished worse than fourth and had won a tour-record seven titles. Woods is lost.”

 Steve Elling, CBS Sports Senior Writer 8-09-10

“Tiger Woods currently has no coach."

                                  Mike Cook

                                  The Heart of Engagement August 10, 2010

With apologies to William Shakespeare and Richard III…. Is it just me or has it been raining coaches in the business world for about the past fifteen years…and they come with certifications in case you need one, from all sorts of sources:

• Coach U
• Coach Inc.
• Center for Executive Coaching
• International Coach Academy
• Etc.

Some of these programs are several months in duration, some offer ongoing support, some are available on-line and some even offer certification in as little as 16 hours! I guess the familiar saying, “Let the Buyer Beware” pertains no matter what the offering.

Coaches are now available on nearly every street corner and make up a large portion of the attendees at any local ASTD meeting or networking group. The ‘rise of the coaches’ seems to be coincident with the proliferation of large scale downsizings that swept through the country in the mid-1990’s following the first wave of reengineering initiatives, also known as “right sizing” our organizations. It does provide individuals a low cost avenue to get into their own business, provides a valuable service, can be tailored to support just about any lifestyle and it is a rewarding profession.

However, I am less concerned for the proliferation of coaches, though dubious of quality in many cases, than I am in the absence of demand for coaching in general, most dramatically absent among many who profess to be involved in employee development, namely mid-level managers.

I am guessing that when you read the opening scenario reporting on Tiger Woods performance over the weekend at the Firestone Classic (assuming you know who he is) your thoughts immediately jumped to his recently confessed marital transgressions and you may have said to yourself, “I am not surprised with all that going on in his personal life that he cannot concentrate on golf!” I’d agree with that assessment. However, I am more mystified that someone whose career was built in close association with well known coaches, his father Earl Woods, Butch Harman, and Hank Haney among others would now find himself in the midst of the greatest crisis of his life operating without a coach!

There are limits to everything in this world, why lessen the chances for accomplishment by trying to approach tough challenges without support? In America I am afraid it is an affliction of our heritage. We have actually bought hook-line-and-sinker into the mythology of the self-made person or the ‘rugged individual.’ Asking for help, especially in the highly competitive environments of many of our commercial organizations has been/is seen as a sign of weakness or insufficiency. These American myths persist despite the fact that any close examination of what might be interpreted as “individual success” can readily be understood as the talents or vision of any famous business figure being heavily complimented and supplemented by others around them far less visible but nonetheless critical to the success realized. As the English poet John Donne so rightly said several centuries ago “…no man is an island, entire of itself…”

So what does determine the upper limits of accomplishment? There are undoubtedly numerous factors but I’ll venture that among them the foremost is the willingness to be coached, an openness to outside perspective and a recognition that anything truly remarkable or worth attaining will likely result from embracing the principle of interdependency.

For those among you that are up to something and might be ready to take the plunge into a coaching relationship I recommend a baby step to get started. There are today many fine coaches writing and making their insights, experience and wisdom available free of charge in the form of their regular blogs.

Some I like are:

Dan McCarthy- expert on management and leadership development

Steve Roesler – covers a vast array of management concerns

Mary Jo Asmus- a true executive coach

Bret Simmons - research based practical management advice

Jon Ingham – Human Capital Management, it is about the people after all

Sharlyn Lauby – calls herself an HR Bartender, she is a lot more than that!

If you think you can handle more coaching or if you like variety in your messaging try the “buffet” that goes by the name Human Capital League. If you can’t find something worth taking in at this site you are probably beyond help.

• Can you identify your reluctance to asking for help or seeking a personal advocate to keep you at the top of your game? It will be something simple, look for it first as an emotion, then as a statement of fact, a rule you have adopted without reflection.

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Last Friday morning around 6:15AM as I was waiting to check in for my flight in Rochester, New York the lines for boarding passes were moving very slowly for what is normally the busiest time of each day. As I looked at the people standing in front of the self-service kiosks I noticed several who appeared to be frozen in front of the terminal screens.

If you’ve flown in the past couple of years you know that almost all check-in service at most airports is now done without the assistance of airline personnel.

There were at least ten kiosks and two airline attendants shuttling back and forth behind the machines grabbing baggage tags and calling out names. No doubt you’ve seen this show more than once. The airline attendants didn’t seem to notice the four people stuck in front of the terminals or the lines of folks backing up and starting to grumble at how slow things were moving. I stepped up to one of the “frozen” people and asked if I could help. My assistance was welcomed and within a couple of minutes I had helped three other people and the lines started moving again and those folks were on their way. (I am no urban hero, I was stuck behind these people myself so my actions were very self-serving.)

You can probably imagine that if you don’t travel very frequently the routine we now go through at the airports, while necessary, might also be confronting and almost overwhelming for some people. If you are a operating an airline why have a minimum number of people on hand at what is known to be the busiest time of the day and why have those that are there doing the same thing rather than attending to what is needed? No doubt you know the answer, attempts to reduce operating expense. If you’ve flown recently you have also no doubt heard the little speech each airline I fly gives at the end of each flight about how they know we have a choice of who we fly with and they appreciate our businesses, blah, blah, blah. This speech comes of course after having been short changed on the front end of the flying experience and now you are telling me how much you appreciate my business. How does the saying go, “Actions speak louder than words?”

For the infrequent traveler that front end experience can be more than confounding, it can be humiliating. I wonder if the recognition of what people might be going through crosses the minds of the cost cutters at airlines headquarters?

Have you had a frustrating IVR experience recently, you know, Interactive Voice Response limbo, one of those calls where you suddenly realize that if you hit two yet one more time you may arrive at the fifth level of Dante’s Inferno? The thought crosses your mind that maybe the website is a better idea, after all they mentioned the website at the beginning of your call, maybe this cul-de-sac approach is their way of encouraging you to use it?

How about entering a lobby on your first visit to a new or potential client and finding yourself in a locked enclosure? You are greeted by a written message next to a house phone indicating that you need to dial the party you are there to visit and they will come to the lobby to meet you.

I know why all of these things are done and I cannot excuse the absence of leadership behind each action of this type. Somewhere along the line someone I will never meet has decided I am not going to be made to feel welcome or maybe worse, even discouraged from participating with this company, all in the interest of some savings in operating expense. And no one with a customer facing responsibility has stepped up and said there could be a cost to this approach to saving money. Well congratulations, you have saved the money, now figure out how you are going to replace my business! Does this sound harsh? It should, this is the age of choices and I will exercise mine and so will those people who were humiliated while standing confused in front of your kiosk or feeling unwanted while they stumbled through your IVR maze or thumbed through your employee directory looking for the name of their “host.”

•  What expense reduction practices does your organizations employ that may well be driving customers away?

• What practices does your organization employ that might suggest to employees that they are expendable or taken for granted?

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