Last month we explored how lack of clarity and lack of buy-in influenced our organizational ability to execute on our goals. This month we will look at one final dynamic…the ‘energy’ in our organization that siphons our ability and willingness to be high performing. This subtle negative ‘energy’ is generated in one of the following ways:
- People who are not a good ‘fit’ for their job, the department, or the organization. When these people are present there is often a dynamic ‘tension’ within the work group. We don’t get along as well, and we don’t work as well together. In time, we are under performing, not having any fun, and wondering why.
- People who say they are ‘on-board’, but really aren’t. Watch them closely and long enough and their behavior tells you that. They may be people of good intentions, but more of the truth is that they don’t like confrontation so they don’t want to ‘publicly’ own the reasons they aren’t on board. They don’t hit their commitments on time, often having very elaborate ‘reasons’ why that is the case. In time you recognize that they just aren’t performing. Ferreting out if its ‘willingness’ or ‘ability’ can be very difficult. The end result is the same…under-performance. It is important to distinguish whether willingness or ability is at the core to determine if coaching or training can make a difference. It is always easier, and less expensive, if you can remediate an employee/leader rather than start over. Make sure to give yourself a time frame for remediation so it doesn’t drag on and further exacerbate the problem.
- The third ‘condition’ that drains an organization’s ability to execute is the difference between their stated ‘intentions’ and the ‘reality’ of how they conduct themselves. Stated intentions are things like core values and guiding principles. They inform how we want to treat our people and customers and how we want to work together. This compares to the reality of how that is actually ‘lived’ out in the organization. Often, the behavior we see is any where from a slight deviation of our stated intentions, to a blatant disregard for core values and guiding principles. These ‘disconnects’ may be unintentional, but they are no less damaging.
If we have sufficient experience with individuals where there is good alignment we will give them the benefit of the doubt. At other times, the organization can be full of people who have good intentions and seldom do what they say. Those within the organization experience a loss of trust. ” You ‘say’ you will do or be this or that. When we experience your behavior, however, it isn’t consistent with what you stated.”
This third condition may have the largest impact on execution. The lack of trust becomes pervasive and with the lack of trust often comes a climate of little or no accountability. There are often fractures in relationships and a climate of under-performance. This ‘climate’ often exists without those within it understanding why that is the case. “We know that we aren’t executing, but we’re not sure why.” Until individual dependability can be restored there will be little progress toward higher performance.
As you can imagine, we often experience organizations where there are a number of people who don’t fit, aren’t buying in, and where there is a disconnect between intentions and behaviors. All of these are a drain on the organizations ability to deliver. While it is not difficult to understand these behavior when examined by themselves, it can be quite difficult to understand how each of them is working in the three dimensions of the every day life of the organization. As we know from past explorations in our discussions about leadership, the difficult journey is the journey within. How are we contributing to what we see? What could we choose to change that would help us and our organization execute better?
When we choose something better for ourselves the by-product is that often those around us benefit.