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Leadership is not just about results and goal accomplishments. While in the short-term these may contribute to leading at a higher level, it is necessary to focus on long-term results and human satisfaction. "Leading at a higher level is, therefore, a process, where the development of people is of equal importance to performance," notes Ken Blanchard, international author and management guru. He defines it as the process of achieving worthwhile results while acting with respect, care and fairness for the well-being of all involved. There is no either/or added to people and results.
Although this is the ideal, it is not what companies around the world do in reality, says Blanchard. Leaders wrongly believe that they cannot focus on both people and results at the same time. Needless to highlight, he says, development of people is of equal importance to performance. "Often in business, I have seen organisations make evaluators out of their managers. But they must realise that they are actually helpers of the people."
What are the keys to success?
Blanchard insists that in order for an organisation to reach its pinnacle as an employer of choice, leaders must adopt the same keys as when developing a high-performance organisation. The first and foremost thing is for leaders to set their sights on the right targets and vision, he says.
Target and vision
"What it means is that we are aiming at the triple bottom line which means you want to be the provider of choice (you want to have your customers raving about you), you want to be the employer of choice (you want your people to be happy working with you) and then you want to be the investment of choice (whether you are public or not). But often in business, people act as though the only reason they are doing it is to make money. Employees are engaged when they believe they are going to make a difference, and not when they think they are just a transaction, and a way for the company to make money. When they get better offers, they go. It's the same with your customers and suppliers, if they don't see your organisation as being one with a heart. And I always say profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people." However, to create a motivating environment, you must have a clear business vision, Blanchard emphasises. "You have to know what your purpose is. What is your picture of the future? Where are you going? What are your values?" he asks.
It helps if a company has an inspiring purpose, one that gives employees a clear picture of the future and motivates customers at the same time. "Most organisations don't have any [worthwhile] values. So it is a free for all, with everybody using their own values and none of them aligning. However, organisations that have [good] values have their own problems, as well; either there are too many or they are not ranked in order. You must have only three or four values, and then you must rank them in order," he says.
Moreover, he observes, instead of just announcing a set of values, companies must actually live them. "Take Walt Disney for instance," he says. The Disney organisation's values are clearly numbered one to four. At the top of the list is safety. If someone gets carried out of the park in a stretcher because they don't have enough safety, they cannot have the same smile across their faces when they are leaving as when they enter. Second is courtesy and friendliness; third is "the show"; and fourth is efficiency and profitability. Employees know that safety will never be compromised for profitability, but that profitability still remains important, as there is a lot of energy wasted if a company isn't doing well financially."
Treat your people and customers right
No matter what, it is critical that you treat your people right, stresses Blanchard. There are three ways of managing people: performance planning, coaching and performance evaluation, he says. He goes on to immediately point out, "But most employers spend all the time on evaluation. We sort the people out in some normal distribution curve. And that is what takes the organisation down. You don't hire losers. You hire good people you take from other organisations. They are good people with good potential. So why are you putting them in a normal distribution curve? A lot of organisations do a good job in setting goals and then they file them away until the end of the year, when somebody reminds you that your performance review is coming up. Only then you run around trying to meet those goals."
That is not how it should be, says Blanchard. "You have to make sure that performance plans have clearer goals and objectives," he says. Further, coaching can be used as an effective tool for managing talents, continues Blanchard. "As a manager, if you see your employees making a mistake, you can either reprimand them or redirect them. You reprimand people and say what went wrong, and then you can end by saying 'You are one of my best people' so that your employees continue to feel motivated. A new direction could be worth a 'new' person. So ideally, you set up evaluation, to ensure that they have a chance to win."
One of the biggest problems that Blanchard points out is that organisations do not want to separate evaluation from compensation. "Some people think they have to sort people out because they are worried about how to compensate them. They should first evaluate their people and then figure out what to do with compensation. Treating people right is to train them and to prepare them to win," he remarks.
Right leadership is a must in all cases
The most effective leaders realise that leadership is not about them and they are only as good as the people they lead, underlines Blanchard. But how can you serve and be a leader at the same time? He explains that there are two parts of leadership - the visionary direction part (which is the lead part), and the implementation part. While the first is the strategic role, of setting the company's vision and direction and engaging the team, the second is the operation and implementation of the vision. "The 'serve' part of leadership is the hardest part for people, because we get our egos in the way and we start to think that leadership is all about us, and not about the people and the vision," he explains.
"So, I think people would like to be serving leaders but their good intentions often cannot be realised. We need to help people realise that the only reason they are in business as a leader is that their position is on loan to their people. They need to take care of their people. As I go around the world, I see across [it] great organizations - leaders go out of their way to serve them. People should be there to serve and not to be served. We have too many self-serving leaders. You have to remember that soft is the new hard in business and we have done some research to show that there is a tremendous relationship between soft leadership and its impact on your people. It makes them passionate about their work. And that creates loyal customers and it is the interaction between passionate employers and loyal customers that makes for organisational performance."
In the end, it is not just about leaders, says Blanchard. "Strategy is important, direction is important, but it is the operational leadership that your people and your customers see that makes the difference."
Whale done!
Leaders' appreciation
· Praise people immediately
· Be specific about what they did right or almost right
· Share your positive feelings about what they did
· Encourage them to keep up the good work
Leaders' redirection response
· Describe the error as soon as possible, clearly and without blame
· Show its negative impact
· If appropriate, take the blame for not making the task clear
· Go over the task in detail and make sure it is clearly understood
· Express your continuing trust and confidence in the person