January 20, 2010
(Alpharetta, GA)
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-The following is an article from "Living Your Leadership Legacy."
A newsletter published by Competitive Solutions, Inc.

Why Leaders Fail and Why It's Not Their Fault
Leaders today, face a multitude of challenges. Leaders are being asked to act as coaches, mentors, facilitators, mediators, educators, motivators, and many other demanding roles. Leaders are routinely required to identify team members that need additional skill development and assist with those members’ career planning. Additionally, leaders are also put under tremendous strain to motivate their team and keep their focus set on the organization’s mission and goals. They are often asked to “roll-up their sleeves” and work alongside team members, while the leader’s own work piles up. Regardless of all their leader’s initiatives, the team members are frustrated and feel increasingly disconnected from management.

Are you a leader facing these same challenges today? Are you pulled in too many directions at once? Do you have more on your plate today than you did a year ago? Most leaders would answer “yes” to these simple questions. Leaders facing these challenges are unable to keep up, because they are dealing with team members that practice selective engagement. They are forced to pick and choose when and who they involve in challenging projects. This picking and choosing based on which team members are engaged at the time leads to what is called “managing by personality.” To meet the organization’s needs and to overcome these challenges, leaders need to be in more than one place at a time; and this is not physically possible. They cannot be an element in every equation. This attempt to “manage by personality” is ultimately doomed to fail.

Leaders - it is not your fault.

How can leaders change this equation and get everyone on their team fully engaged? Stop “managing by personality” and begin “managing by process.” Leaders must establish some very basic, operating procedures or processes. These minimum standard ways of operating will become their sustainable processes and are called the “non-negotiables.” Non-negotiables will serve as the guide for how they communicate, measure success, leverage a corrective actions process, and operate according to defined expectations.

Important Non-Negotiables

1) Communication. How can a leader be certain that their team is obtaining the information needed? Implement a communication process; a process that allows the team to get and give important information in a structured manner.

2) Accountability. How do leaders know their team is fully engaged, following through, and completing activities on time? Implement an accountability process; a process that doesn’t require a leader’s physical presence in order for accountability to occur.

3) Focus. How does the team know that their activities are meaningful and related to fulfilling the organization’s mission? Implement a scorecard process; a process that connects employees directly to the overall mission. The scorecard will show them where they need to focus in order to contribute to the success of the team, department, division, and ultimately the organization.

4) Behavior. How would the team know what to do when facing a new challenge? And, how are leaders to know when their team is clear concerning minimum expectations of engagement? How can leaders be certain their people understand what is to be done, when it’s due, and how those actions relate to the mission? Implement a behavioral expectations process; a process that communicates what and how things are to be done, regardless of the leader’s presence.

When leaders “manage by process” and do not “manage by personality,” they effectively lessen their burden. Their physical presence is not required in every equation. Their team can make decisions, collectively, hold each other accountable, and elevate their own levels of engagement. They will become a team which operates without total dependency on their leader. This is true empowerment, which allows everyone a greater opportunity to succeed. This will provide a framework for success and leaders can rest assured that they are no longer set up for failure.