Recently I executed an employee engagement survey across a client organization. When I compared the senior executive team with the blended front-line results I discovered a very troubling outcome.

The senior executives were almost unanimous in the belief that they had done an excellent job of communicating the core values of the organization — yet results from the front-line indicated exactly the opposite.

Even worse, some of the comments indicated that the values the front-line were observing were inconsistent with the “advertised” values.

Too many organizations believe that the values are clear in their organization. However, all too often, the values that are communicated are coming via actions rather than words — or the actions speak louder than the words.

Here are few questions to ask yourself.

• Have you crystallized your values and written them down?
• Does everyone at the senior level of the organization agree and commit to live by these values?
• Did you involve your employees? Were they involved in establishing the organizational values? Do they feel ownership?
• Did you solicit buy-in across the organization and give them an opportunity to discuss them and what they mean in their daily lives?
• Do you regularly communicate the values? Do you explain your decisions in the context of your values so everyone understand how the values come to life?
• Do you live your values? Actions speak louder than words — are your values being demonstrated on a daily basis in your decision-making?

My Perspective: If you don’t have clearly defined core values, this is a missed opportunity to influence and engage employees. Too often organizations have a communications plan — but it doesn’t do a very good job of communicating internally.

Having a clear set of values also let’s people know what kind of organization is being built and they have an opportunity to decide whether they want to belong to that kind of organization. And in return, you have the evaluate people for a good fit with your team.

Clarity is key.

This is the first in our series of articles that looks at leadership capacity and its impact on organizational growth and transformation. The full series will be available for download as a white paper once it is completed.

Leadership capacity is more than simply skill development; it’s about performance, growth, transformation and change. For the purpose of our discussion in this series of articles, let’s define it as;

“Leadership Capacity is the skilful use of leadership attributes for the growth and development of ourselves, our colleagues and our organization”.

Great leaders not only understand how to engage and inspire their teams to get the best results — they understand the need to create participatory and collaborative processes that develop the abilities of the next generation of leaders.

Leadership lays the groundwork for success

Successful companies do not happen by accident. They are the result of building effective leadership capacity and an awareness and willingness to take the necessary steps in identify internal talent and nurture them into the leaders of tomorrow.

Leadership lays the groundwork for success in 3 key ways:

1. Builds an internal development system: Not unlike a great sports dynasty with a deep pool of talent in their farm teams, strong leaders foster leadership in all levels of their organization. When leadership capacity is developed at all levels of the organization, it creates a farm system of future leaders that will be prepared to move up and take on new challenges, preventing the organization from experiencing a future leadership gap. Internal leadership capabilities also create a rich internal resource of new and innovative ideas that management can consult when charting out the future of the organization.
2. Creates a competitive advantage: Companies that invest in leadership development are the minority. Organizations and their leadership get caught up and focus on the day to day operations of the business — the most pressing issues that drive short term results. They forget to invest time in the future because the ROI is less obvious. When this happens, it is the long term vision and growth potential that tends to suffer because of gaps in leadership transition. If your organization is one of the few that consistently commits to developing internal leadership capacity and is constantly producing future leaders, you will have an advantage over competitors — not only because ideas and innovative thinking are constantly being revitalized, but also the ability to attract the best new talent that can be developed into future leaders.
3. Fosters innovation: Leaders at the top of the organization need to intentionally gather information from across the organization. To consistently have the ability to grow and stay fresh with your thinking you need leaders at all levels of your organization that are able to evaluate activities and provide honest feedback based on understanding the vision and values of the organization. When employees are given additional responsibilities and the ability to make decisions, this puts them in a position to expand their capabilities, grow as an employee, and develop their skills — which leads to new insights, perspectives, and efficiencies that benefit the broader organization as well.

Leadership elevates your ability to grow

Leadership has a direct impact on your company’s ability to grow. While much of the attention about leadership is focused on the leaders at the top of the organization, it is the leaders at the mid-level and front line that have the greatest direct impact on growth.

No matter where your leadership development is as an organization, here are 4 critical elements to consider when evaluating the overall leadership capacity and culture within your organization.

Establish and communicate a clear direction: Strong leaders communicate a vision that inspires and attracts people with shared beliefs and values. Having a clear direction ensures that the correct infrastructure, resources and people are in place to advance the growth process. A clear direction also provides leaders with a measuring stick they can use to gauge decisions, strategy and future planning. A clear direction, clearly communicated is also a highly effective recruitment tool for other top performers.

Define goals and objectives: Leaders that clearly lay out the specific goals and objectives not only for the organization, but for each department, project, and employee make it easier for employees to commit to those outcomes. Everyone needs to be clear on what success looks like in the organization. Leaders that define what needs to be done will have greater success gaining the desired results from their people.

Set standards of behaviour: Outcomes are important — but by themselves can be detrimental to the organization if the “how” is also not clarified. Great leaders understand that leadership starts first through the behaviours they model; however, true leadership capacity is more than simply leading by example. Leaders must create a working environment that fosters and rewards desired behaviour in addition to the desired outcomes.

Embed continuous improvement into your culture: Many organizations are pretty good at the first 3 elements — but fall down in the area of continuous improvement, which is the most critical. This only occurs when everyone in the organization is committed to building their own leadership capacity and helping the organization grow and evolve based on people willing to providing input from across the organization.

If the organization only has direction, goals and behaviours — without the consistent, positive tension of personal contribution and improvement, senior leaders lose the benefit of the wealth of ideas from less senior leaders across the organization. Resultant, the farm system is not strengthened and the flow of innovative thinking is stifled.

What can leaders do tomorrow?

Building out your leadership capacity must one of your prime objectives. Without building your personal leadership capacity, you will inhibit both your personal and companies’ ability to change and grow.

Leadership impacts performance and performance impacts growth. Growth will not happen if people do not perform. Effective leadership builds more effective people, teams, and organizations. When leadership is present at all levels it helps to accelerate business results and makes it possible to fire up change and growth.

Consider this information and think about how it applies to you as a leader and your company. Think about the current state of your leadership and think about ways that you can put yourself in a position to be a better leader and achieve change in your organization — even from the bottom up.

The next article in our series will examine the characteristics that leaders must possess to create change and improve their companies’ ability to grow.

Are you finding that you are not hearing the fresh ideas and new thinking in your organization that you would like. Are you often faced with sitting through presentations that sound like the same ideas rehashed again and again.

Well maybe you are burying good ideas under a bad process.

Before you hear their ideas — are your teams spending time getting them “right”? Are they vetted, reviewed, revised and debated around in circles until all the edginess and excitement has been “fine-tuned” right out of existence.

Imagine if ideas for the iPhone had been fine-tuned to death before they were presented to the boss. Of if space travel had been fine-tuned before making the suggestion to president Kennedy?

My Perspective: As a leader it is your job to foster an environment where good ideas become great — not where good ideas get ground down into mundane ideas.

Instead of insisting that ideas are thoroughly vetted before your hear them, instead find ways to be part of idea generation sessions where you have the opportunity to hear raw, unfiltered ideas that need championing, not fine-tuning.

Skip the fancy presentations, remove the filters, roll up your sleeves and create idea incubation sessions where people present raw ideas and concepts that aren’t well thought out, but still hold the promise of greatness. Then embrace some of these ideas and help them grow with your support.

Just think, one of those ideas might turn into the next Google, Zappos or iPhone.

Just imagine

It’s essential that staff receive support or they can’t do their job properly. Support isn’t limited to merely work-related aspects of the job but to other things such as morale and recognition as well.

There are plenty of different ways employers can support their staff. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind in your work environment.

Training is vital
It’s crucial that staff receive all necessary training when they start a job and also ongoing training as often as required. It’s also essential that training is consistent for all staff members. It’s not acceptable for answers to vary from one employee to another because this can cause confusion and further problems. Proper training is inevitably what makes better quality employees.

Positive work environment
Whether you work in a call centre, an office or a retail store, it’s vital that you have a positive work environment. If employees dread the thought of going to work each day, they’re not going to perform at their best and they may even feel resentful for being there.

There are many ways to create a positive workplace. Attitude is essential — people should be respectful and friendly towards one another. Bitchiness or backstabbing should not be tolerated. Not just by supervisors, but among colleagues as well. If anyone has issues, the supervisor/manager should always be available to help resolve such problems so they don’t linger and taint the rest of the workplace.

Décor and proper equipment also contribute to your environment. Do you have ergonomic chairs and desks? Do you have a proper lunch room where staff can take breaks away from the public eye? Is there somewhere you can store your personal possessions if you don’t have a desk? All of these things contribute to a harmonious working environment.

Motivation is an individual thing
Employers should know what motivates their staff and use that knowledge to build stronger relationships. People are motivated by different things and so it’s important to learn what motivates each individual if that’s possible and incorporate that into your overall leadership strategies.

Take the time to get to know what motivates each member of your team. Having a staff suggestion box is a great way to get ideas and suggestions. Motivations change over time and if you want to keep your team working at peak efficiency, it’s vital that you learn what’s important to them.

Recognition and rewards
Staff have to be acknowledged and rewarded for the good work they do. Financial bonuses are always great if they are available — but they’re not your only option. You could have an employee of the week or month plaque that is presented and then displayed on the wall for everyone to see. Acknowledgement for most improved staff members could be another idea. When staff do something wrong, managers are quick to admonish them so they should be just as quick with their praise, in whatever form they choose. Like motivation, your team can also suggest great ideas on what works for them.

Scope for advancement
Most people don’t like to feel trapped in a dead end job. Internal promotions should always be considered before advertising externally. Staff are more motivated to excel in their work if they have a vision for the future growth and development.

If you’re not seen to be actively supporting your staff, you can’t expect them to perform at their best. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and to be a part of a team. If you do that, you can’t lose.

How often have you attended a meeting — or worse, a number of meetings — without any concrete decisions being made or action steps agreed?

Too often the team just seems to be going in circles.

This form of indecisiveness — or paralysis by analysis — plagues many organizations. In fact, some people actually use this as a strategy to avoid being held accountable for the success or failure of any initiative.

This lack of decision-making hurts organizations financially because issues and opportunities are not addressed and it creates a sense of powerlessness with the team members who recognize that nothing is happening. It effectively creates an under-performance malaise  that affects the financial goals of the organization and the engagement of the team.

Years ago I worked with a leader who was faced with a team that was unable or unwilling to make a decision. He decided that going forward they would make a decision and then be prepared to adjust that decision if it wasn’t the right one. He felt that they could make a decision; find out it wasn’t the ideal decision and then make a new decision based the new input — faster than they were currently making any decision.

This approach introduced nimbleness to the organization and also sent a signal that people would not be criticized for making a wrong decision. Both excellent messages for any organization.

Here are some tips if you are faced with indecision in your organization

• Ensure people feel safe when making decisions. Of course, decisions need to be made based on good information and thoughtful consideration, but if a decision turns out wrong based on the best use of information at the time, then people should feel safe from criticism.
• Use decisive language in your communication. Confidence and clarity in language sets a tone. Give people honest feedback and discourage indecisiveness. Be clear when providing direction and expect the same from others.
• Ask for opinions and then ensure the opinion is valued — even if everyone doesn’t agree.
• If a decision needs to be delayed, make sure there is a specific reason (i.e. additional information is needed) and establish a time-line to re-group with responsibilities identified to gather the missing information.
• Make sure every meeting ends with a summary of decisions and next steps. Every discussion point should have a concluding next step.
• Ensure each next step has clear accountability on time-lines and responsibilities.
• Follow up to ensure that next steps are being executed; offer support where needed to get the task concluded.
• Solicit feedback to ensure that the decision continues to make sense. This isn’t second-guessing, it’s simply monitoring outcomes. Don’t be afraid to re-visit a decision if the facts change. Sticking with a bad decision is as bad as making no decision at all.

My Perspective: Sometimes I like to say “I never change my mind.” The statement is intended to cause people to pause and think about what I said.

I then add that if presented with additional facts, I haven’t actually changed my mind — but made a new decision.

Good decision-making is evaluating all available facts and then having the courage to make a decision to take action. In some cases, that decision might be to take no action for a specified period, because you need more information — but it needs to be intentional, not by default.