POGO "I have seen the enemy and he is us"
What’s your end game? Business owners seldom have an answer to that question—they usually lament about being too busy to even consider possibilities. It’s an undeniable fact that your game will end. Will you sell the business…turn it over to the next generation…or perform a daily grind until you die—leaving your family and the government to sort things out?
by Art McNeil LSI publisher
When transfer time arrives, what will your business be worth? Ignoring this critical issue means you are probably behaving like you own your job…not the company. Unfortunately, potential investors or the next generation, has no interest in assuming your job. The introduction of inspired leadership and process discipline will make your company more profitable, secure, and valuable now ands in the longer term—you might even reclaim more personal life in the process.
We have entered what futurist David Hule calls “The shift Age.” The ground is and will continue moving under our feet and there’s no going back. As baby boomers, you and I are vulnerable. We were either raised in the industrial age or have been influenced by people who were. Remnants of a bygone era (the industrial age) still exist in many companies—showing up as profit and growth inhibiting attitudes and behavioral patterns. Systemic dysfunction often exists below the CEOs conscious awareness. A corporate exorcism may be required to eliminate industrial-age ghosts that may still be haunting your halls. During recent positioning discussions, I was branded “The “corporate exorcist”. The following may explain why that moniker is sticking to me.
Step #1: Introduce an inspirational leadership model:
Start by clarifying cultural values in a way that generates corporate energy. This step launches a powerful profit tool that can be used by people at all levels. Too often, value efforts regress to become meaningless words stored in desk drawers or hanging on lobby walls. Values-directed leadership by contrast, inspires people by answering fundamental questions like: what’s special about us, where are we going, what do we believe, how solid is our ethics platform, and what are the performance consequences–in short, what is our brand promise based on? For example, Integrity is a cultural value that has been used by all my companies. Its related ethical platform “we never miss a commitment or fail to tell the whole truth” draws a nonnegotiable behavioral line in the sand. What companies say they believe is irrelevant. *Cultural values are expressed by what the CEO tolerates day in and day out– they’re always on display for everybody to see. *Culture= the collective habits a group uses to get things done.
The largest determinant of how employees perform today is their conscious or below conscious expectation of what the future holds in store. Employees cannot see what they don’t believe. Vision should be considered the future tense of values. Energy is generated by focusing a corporate vision—but before a critical mass of employees will see possibilities, they must observe the vision from a shared platform–the company’s cultural-values.
Once cultural values have been clarified, mastery of two essential skills are essential to keep it going. The good news is that the two skills (#1 how to recognize a cultural-values contribution…in a way that inspires, and #2 how to correct non compliant or poor -performance…in a way that disciplines) can be taught in a couple of hours. The bad news however, is that their ongoing application depends on the CEOs willingness to champion the cause and hold peoples’ toes to the fire.
Step #2: Apply process discipline: (mastery of step #1 is a prerequisite)
Process-discipline can be thought of as shift age management. It aligns employees behind the customers total experience and the shareholders’ ROI . This is accomplished by managing strategic process rather than by industrial age concepts such as departments. Moving forward, successful organizations will use process discipline not the supervisors to tell employees what to do. Personal authority will be redirected towards ensuring that tasks are executed properly, that objectives are met and that inspirational leadership is being used by everybody. Process discipline will minimize waste and rework, focuse the sales effort, improve cash flow, establishe meaningful measures, introduce performance consequence, encourage effective hiring and firing, develop the CEOs capacity to forward think, and equally important increase the value of the company.
During a stint in telecommunications, I was assigned the responsibility of helping executives and senior engineers bridge a huge performance gap as they transitioned from monopoly to a competitive marketplace. In spite of extensive training, many talented people remained stuck in denial—navigating from a mental map of a world that no longer existed. The experience taught me that ”knowing is not doing”.
As an executive coach I consider senior team dysfunction—more the norm than an exception. CEO behavior is often the root cause of problems such as; attachment to the status quo, less than stellar decision making, poor morale, departmental turf wars, CYA defensiveness, and debilitating levels of stress. Successful CEOs accept a classic line from the comic strip POGO, “I have seen the enemy and he is us.”
