Do they never learn?

Leaders and leadership teams often grapple with how to change the culture and behaviours within a business.

If after a few attempts things aren’t working they will regularly revert to the services of outside consultants and communications specialists to develop and run an engagement programme in the hope that this will finally get the message across.

However what they all too often fail to note is just how closely, their actions, words and relationships are being observed by those who work for them. One misstep, however small can undermine all of the investment that has been made in the “Engagement Activities”.

Once again this week in the UK the subject of expenses for Members of Parliament has reared up its distinctly ugly head, and once again the “but I am only following the rules” defence has been rolled out.

I am not picking on any particular MP since I suspect that apart from those who currently stand in the cross hairs of the media’s telescopic sights, there are many others standing back and being quiet, hoping that the spotlight doesn’t swing on them.

So why does this defence fail to convince?  It seems that there are two main reasons:

Ø  It may be technically correct but is it morally correct?  To follow a set of “rules” when you know that they are out of touch with the morale standards of those that you serve suggests a sense of arrogance and superiority.  Leaders who retain long-term respect are those who demonstrate humility and respect for the moral compass of those that they serve.

 

Ø  The rules are very different from those that these very same people set for the rest of us.  If I fail to submit receipts with my expenses the taxman will tax me, to suggest that I am too busy to trifle with such trivia will earn me no friends. If I claim for expenses that are out of proportion to my salary, once again I get taxed. To live by different rules to those that you apply to others is simply hypocrisy and cynical and suggests that the leaders do not care about the people that they serve.

 

But it isn’t only politicians, what about the leader that expects people to respond punctually and is late herself, or the leaders who freezes pay and makes people redundant but pays himself more?  What about the board that tells their employees that teamwork is important but work in factions themselves, or the executive who talks about the value of people but does nothing to develop others.

Don’t get me wrong; I think that engagement is critical since it dramatically impacts the performance of the business.  I think that engagement programmes are valuable because they can help to accelerate the rate of change.

If the executive/leadership team is acting congruently with what they say and want, change and engagement will happen.  It may be slow but it will happen and an engagement programme will accelerate that change.

IF however they are not acting congruently, it does not matter how much is spent the change will not happen or at least it will not be sustainable.

The good news of course is that most executives are not voted in by “their pubic”, they only have to convince the shareholders; but they can be brutal when things do not go as promised.

No special book this month but Google TED Talks - fantastic stuff - look for Sir Ken Robinson "Schools Kill Creativity" - magnificent

A Change of Leadership

Perhaps too much has been written in the last few weeks about the packages that have been offered to and accepted by “disgraced banking executives”.

It is neither my place nor purpose to add to such personal vilification since, I, like I suspect most of the authors know little or nothing of the important details of each case.

What is clear however is that we stand on the edge of a significant opportunity to realign what we mean by leadership to a set of values that are more broadly held in the wider community.

Much has been made of the academic and career backgrounds of people who have achieved positions of power in industry and I am beginning to hear people question whether or not it is the increased focus on “business school education” that has led us into trouble.

Personally I believe that it is much wider than that.  It is more to do with what we have allowed to become seen as “acceptable behaviour” that needs review.

Before I continue, I must make it clear that I run a business for profit and believe that without profit it is impossible to build sustainable organisations.  In other words what follows are not the rantings of a left or for that matter right wing fanatic.

Let us start with the consideration that, if you allow your economy to become dependant upon people buying things that they don’t need with money that they don’t have, and cannot afford to borrow, you have an unsustainable situation.

But that was (and probably still is) the case.

In this economy, it became acceptable for people to earn sums of money from full time employment that previously would only have been possible had the individual taken personal risk and run their own business.

Hence the risk/reward balance was thrown out of balance and in a strange way that also affected how people applied the consequences of failure.

If you run your own business and take extraordinary risk, you may end up extremely rich or destitute.  There are those of us who run their own businesses who do not wish to end up destitute and therefore we moderate the amount of risk that we are willing to take and hence we also moderate our expected earnings.

But the concept of personal risk seems to be almost totally absent from the corporate world and people are allowed to act in many ways without the fear of consequence.  Indeed organisations often err too much on the side of “Fairness” and allow a limited number of irresponsible individuals to take advantage of their good nature.

It is not the fact that these failed leaders were given extraordinary payoffs, but rather, if the apparent facts are true, why were they not dismissed for gross misconduct?

Before however we raise the inevitable chant of “there’s one rule for them and another for the rest of us”, it is only fair to recognise that that is far from the truth.

The very same culture allows individuals to take unauthorised sick leave, or underperform at work in a variety of ways, without their manager taking appropriate action.  It means that the only way that some organisations can ever get rid of persistent offenders to is to pay them an unjustified redundancy payment.

Perhaps the most consistent complaint on employee opinion surveys, after the predictable comments on pay and conditions, is the fact that poor performance goes unpunished.

There are many requirements of leadership, one of which is fairness.  But what is fair?  I hesitate to suggest that it is decided in the “court of public opinion”, but it is defined by what society generally defines as fair.

At work, fairness depends on the terms of the deal that is agreed between both parties at the start of the relationship.  Generally it is agreed that the employer will pay the employee to deliver certain services and it is also agreed that certain behaviours are acceptable and others, unacceptable.

Should either party not fulfil their side of the bargain, then it is appropriate for the counter party to take appropriate action.

If we are to take the opportunity for change that has presented itself to us, let us not focus on what has happened in the past, however unpalatable that may be.

You can only change the future.  Yes I accept that it would be great if our politicians took the lead but they won’t and the fact that they too will tell you that their expenses are “within the agreed policy” even if they are generally seen to be unacceptable, shows the depth of the problem.

What we need is a new style/form of leadership.  One that is based in values; rather than power, cash or greed.  

One that is based on consequences that are fair, equitable and palatable to the wider population and are applied with equal rigour at all levels.

One that is based on do as I do rather than do as I say but allow me to do differently!

Book Recommendations….

The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas - by John Boyne - a beautiful and powerful story about two boys on different sides of the barbed wire in World War II

Venue of the Week, Month, Year!

Aravis, the most wonderful three days in stunning chalet - www.business-retreats.co.uk/home.html