Accountability

Recently, several organizations have had difficulty with their management and employees. As I observed a church staff, a charter school administration, and new corporate middle managers, I discover that accountability is a huge issue for all of them. Some employees had authority to coincide with their responsibility. They had an easier time acheiving accountability than those who had responsibility and little to no authority in crazy-making, no-win situations. My observations led me to understand that accountability issues disguise trust and truth issues, and without trust and truth, the workplace beomes non-nurturing at the best and hostile at the worst. Teamwork, productivity, performance, and morale become casualties of a workplace where accountability is overlooked or undermined. Gossip, lying, and blame fuel distrust and negativity. In the church scenario, lies and unfounded accusations caused the pastor's dismissal by misled lay leaders. In the charter school scenario, the director was made a scapegoat for the executive director's poor judgment and the board of directors' ineptitude. In the corporate scenario, the middle managers continue to flounder in unclear expectations and inadequate support.

If negativity, distrust, and poor achievement show up in your organization, look to your systems for accountability or the lack of it. Personal responsibility, positional authority, and professional accountability measure the health of an organization. How healthy is yours?

A Simple "Thank You"

So often I see and hear about poor customer service. The pizza dispatcher who holds us for 3 minutes 37 seconds to verify our $10 coupon, the sales clerk who continues the phone call as we stand at the register with carefully selected items, the store representative who argues the return policy with no apology or empathy.... These stressful economic times take their toll on underpaid and understaffed sales personnel and on underpaid and underappreciated customers. Everyone is working to pay their bills and debts, and everyone is sleep deprived in the process. Patience is thin and tempers are transparent.

So I was delighted when during the past week, I witnessed three examples of excellent customer service in three different places. Two women at a check-out stand were told there was no rain-check for the sold-out item they wanted, but there might be some restock items in the back. The clerk called and within two minutes the items arrived. A construction client received a discount and a gift during a delay on an outdoor home-improvement project due to wet weather and resulting scheduling conflicts. A patron received immediate and expert attention during a suit sale. Color coordination and customized fitting services expedited the shopping errand and accompanied extra tips for value pricing and additional coupons. These experiences amazed me. The extra time and effort to serve the customer went beyond the norm.

Yet, none of these services was verbally recognized by the primary customer at the time of the service. A simple "thank you" goes a long way--long enough to help the next customer in line to experience good service! Pass on the good word--it can help build the economy.

Trust Drives the Bottom Line

The health of an organization's bottom line correlates to the amount of trust displayed in its interconnected relationships. A colleague says "Trust begins and ends with the truth." Being truthful, caring, and skillful play significant roles in creating a trustworthy interaction. William Easum, an organization development consultant, says that "quantum" businesses contain trust as a major characteristic of their conduct at all levels. Trust begins with the leader of the organization and permeates into all levels of employee ranks, teams and divisions, and outward to vendors, suppliers, external customers, and the general public. Within such an environment, people can learn from mistakes and take appropriate risks to create innovation in processes, products, and services.

Years ago the Tylenol corporation gained the trust of the public when it apologized in the media for deaths associated with its products. Tylenol removed all its products from shelves and went on to develop tamper-proof containers. Those gestures demonstrated a commitment to the health and safety of their customers. To this day, the Tylenol company remains financially viable with trusted products and a large market share.

Sprint has had a harder time gaining the trust of the public. As a front leader in telecommunications, Sprint could have nurtured a loyal clientele with excellent customer service. It chose instead to go after contracts. As contracts expired, customers left Sprint for more responsive cell phone carriers. Sprint's bottom line has fluxuated like a flag in a hurricane, and its workforce never knows when the next storm will hit and they'll be dismissed again. Customer service can solidify trust or it can cancel it.

Best-Buy has learned a similar trust lesson. Its managers confessed to a consultant a few years back that they diffeentiated themselves by the best price for electronic products and accessories; they did not care about the sale after the product left the store, unless the customer purchased an extended waranty. Now Best-Buy has the Geek Squad to serve its customers--a big shift in thinking.

Internal customer service is often seen as teambuilding. Teams with little or no trust are really groups of individuals working under the same roof or though a virtual system. Without trust, employees do work for benefits and paychecks only. They are susceptible to better benefits and bigger paychecks elsewhere. Talent and skill retention become difficult to maintain and will impact performanace and productivity--both of which will affect the bottom line within time.

Micro-management and broken triangles are two relationship saboteurs that destroy trust. A competent employee who has to have each step of a task challenged or approved will begin looking for a less-hassled or non-hostile environment in which to work. An employee who constantly has to watch his or her back so that others are not talking behind his or her back will begin to feel alienated and disliked, as employees are encouraged, and perhaps rewarded, for not communicating directly with one another. Distrust will spread like black mold in that kind of environment. The resulting turnover will show itself in the bottom line.

Trust or distrust can be corporate currency. What is encouraged and rewarded will blossom or fester, respectively. Finding and telling the truth, being responsible, and being accountable build trustworthiness. Choose trust in cultivating your business relationships; it pays off in the long run.

Conflict's Surprises

In a recent presentation of "Productive Conflict: Conversation to Collaboration," participants listed the positive outcomes of conflict. Among them were clarification of misunderstandings, innovation in seeking solutions, and trust in working relationships that could withstand disagreement.

By definition, conflict means a dispute or a disagreement, and by experience it means an opportunity has presented itself. Conflict is neither good nor bad, it simply is inevitable. This realization suggests each of us must be accountable to ensure that conflict becomes productive. We must stay in conversation to find our way out of the tangle of disputes arising from shared resources and goals, limited time and money, differing values and priorities, and changing skill sets and technology. Recently, several small groups struggled with some of the sources of conflict in a puzzle game designed to simulate real expectations and dilemmas. Each table team was given a packet of pieces of playing cards and the following instruction from the facilitator, "Put as many whole cards together as you can. I'll check in with you in 15 minutes."

Assumptions circulated: (1)we must put our cards together and get as many as possible to beat the other teams; (2) we have a deadine; (3) we have all the pieces we need to make whole cards; (4) each team must work independently from the others; and (5) whole cards are accomplished when the faces of the cards are complete as the original cards looked in the new deck.

As teams worked, tension and frustration crept into the interaction. A scarcity of resources eventually led someone to ask the facilitator, "Can we talk with other groups?" Then teams began sending runners out to find the pieces they needed for their dismembered cards: "Do you guys have Diamonds?" and "That group has the other half of the King of Spades!" Then a woman exclaimed, "Someone has pieces in their pocket--I'm convinced of it!"

Teams had different strategies to accomplish the goal. One team abandoned its table with their pieces displayed for others to take. Another team stayed in place around their pieces and observed as others traded pieces, ultimately assembling the observing team's cards through no effort of their own! One individual explained her behavior and ulterior motive, "I've been giving pieces away so we'll get out of here sooner." Still another team accomplished its understanding of the goal by arranging their cards into wholes by working the back of the cards into a congruent design. That really distressed some individuals who could not see the face side of the cards to see if the pieces they neeed were literally face down. One woman suggested, "Let's put all the pieces on one table," but no one moved to do that: later the teams agreed that it was too much trouble to do it.

When conflict arises, ask questions and listen to perspectives. Do you all understand the goal and how to accomplish it in the same way? What assumptions are apparent as the conversation uncovers misunderstandings, misconceptions, and misinformation? When instuctions or goals are vague or confusing, how do you find your way? Does your team work as independent individuals or as a unified front? Does our team process conflict to determine how to ensure performance and productivity?

After lots of laughs and negotiations, the five teams successfully assembled a deck of cards from 200 pieces in approximately 20 minutes. The surprise: push through the conflicts to identify the opportunities presented and to create the successful results worthy of the participants!

Personal Connections

Recently, a business associate asked me what universals exist for leading diverse personalities. My colleague mentioned how so many professional training programs incorporate "personality profiles" into the mix for professional skills. We have also read in business literature for more than a decade now about talent retention and management, human capital, social networking, social intelligence, and emotional intelligence. These terms refer to making and maintaining personal connections to ensure the health of our leaders, employees, and organizations.
Psychologists define "personality traits" as those preferred or typical behavior and thinking patterns an individual is most likely to demonstrate. Options for profiles include Myers-Briggs, DiSC, Interact, Strengthfinder, Gregorc's Type Delineator, SELF--among others. Without referring to a profile, however, can we identify some safe, simple, and effective guidelines for interacting with the diversity of people in the workplace?
In answer to this question, consider four competencies integral to creating personal connections: communication, negotiation, management, and teamwork. Leaders and coworkers can increase their human awareness, regardless of specific personality traits and profiles. But, beware: connecting with one another means risking vulerability, so only the courageous need continue reading.
Let's briefly consider communication first. Our communication skills and strategies are foundational to our success. We all want others to talk with us, to be direct with us, and to value our input. Three behaviors we appreciate from our leaders and coworkers are (1) listening without interrupting, (2) asking permission regarding our time and space, and (3) expressing empathy for our emotional and physical well-being.
Second, negotiation skills create a respectful work atmosphere. These skills are extensions of basic communication skills. We all appreciate it when leaders and coworkers are committed to finding commonalities and similarities, honoring fairness through consistent and dignified treatment, and giving forgiveness in the face of unintentional frailty (weakness), flaw (deficiency), or fault (error).
Third, management skills provide a necessary framework in which leaders and coworkers can offer encouragement, accept responsibility, and nurture accountability. When leaders and coworkers are convinced of one another's competence, even when our personal confidence waivers, we can rise to the task at hand. Performance and productivity improve when we have the support and resources from others around us.
Finally, teamwork evolves through sharing credit, showing recognition, and developing trust. Team leaders and team members bond over time and through stressful conditions by carrying the load, jumping the hurdles, and earning the trophies together. If not with all, then always for all of the team!
We hunger for personal connection within the automated and technical workplace. Being treated as a valued and valuable person within the organization, or doing business with the organization, encourages each of us to be a loyal employee, customer, or partner. Begin today to connect with the people around you where you work. It is worth the time and effort!

Stories: More than Words

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean outside the Asian shores, two US Navy pilots flew a mission. These pilots were perfecting low-flying techniques to avoid radar detection during World War II. Not having found their intended target, however, they could not return to their carrier with the ordinance aboard the planes. The pilots spoke through their radios and agreed to look for any likely target on a close enemy island. Within minutes they discovered a group of buildings and the first pilot flew low with the second plane close behind. The first bomb hit and erupted a thunder of explosions. Shrapnel sprayed and spiraled into the path of the second plane that could not escape the barrage of projectiles. The pilot held his breath and planted his hands firmly on the control. Within seconds, the instruments disengaged as the damage to the plane became ever more clearly evident. The pilot detached the bombs and flew upward as fast and as high as he could go. More shrapnel engulfed the plane. The first pilot was horrified at seeing the encounter his friend faced.
"Andy, Andy! Are you all right?" yelled the first pilot.
The second pilot replied, "I'm still with you! We must have hit an ammunition dump. What fireworks!"
Both planes headed toward the carrier. The first plane would have to land before the limping plane could make an attempt and the likelihood of a crash landing was too good for their liking. Both pilots knew a crash could prevent a safe landing for any plane that immediately followed.
The pilot in the second plane fought for control of his flying machine. It did not want to cooperate. The wings dove and rose in convulsive disagreement. The plane moaned, shrieked, and rattled as Andy intuitively did what he could to comfort and ease it into a steady decline. A hot rush swept through him. Andy knew he had one chance to get the plane down on the runway. He feared the plane would break up if he had to circle and make another pass, and ditching in the sea was an exhausting and expensive alternative that Andy did not want on his record--if he survived the dunk. He had to land on deck. He felt a determination he had not remembered since he was 13 when he jumped out of the third-floor window to prove to those 10 other Boy Scouts they could save themselves from the fire by jumping after him--but that was another story, captured in a newpaper article his mom saved and that his youngest daughter would find fifty-some years later. It was as if he willed the plane to gain stability. The nose tipped downward. He muscled the control and glided to a bumpy stop atop ship. The firefighters rushed over to assist. He unbuckled, unstrapped, and climbed out to a roar of applause. "Lousy approach--helluva landing!" The chant and caption became a lifelong motto: "Turn lousy approaches into magnificent landings." Much later, as Andy related the story to his grandchildren, they heard Andy's finish: "I noticed blood splattered on my flight suit, so I went below deck to get presentable. I washed the blood from my face and arms, and in doing so, I watched my Purple Heart go down the drain!" He chuckled and his grandchildren laughed at his story.
The power of stories can help children and grandchildren know they belong in a family of courage and self-reliance and determination. This can be true of organizations and their employees as well. Think about the stories that inspire you to do your best. Share them--they're more than words! On this Memorial Day 2009, I honor my father, Cdr. Charles Robert Anderson, USN (b. October 20, 1918, d. December 25, 2007), known as Andy to many of his Navy friends.

NOMAD Leadership

Nomads wander with no permanent residence other than the portable home they pack. Typically, they light wherever the resources can be found. The lifestyle of the nomad lies in poetry and song. The nomad concept can reveal crucial leadership skills as well.

NOMAD: Narrator, Observer, Model, Ally, and Director

A leader narrates the story, the truth. A leader markets a purpose and demonstrates a mission.

A leader is an observer who readily takes, makes, and shares opportunities. A leader is an informed risk-taker who transitions from hindsight to foresight in a clear vision and direction.

A leader models core values, acts on principle, stands alone when necessary, and operates within an ethical code of conduct.

A leader creates alliances, serves followers, and connects through networking and collaborating.

A leader directs others and delegates tasks while developing key team members.

By telling the story, clarifying the vision, modeling the ethics, allying the team, and directing the efforts, the leader fashions results and benefits that propel a business or a family forward--ever forward.