Vicki Anderson

I’m so tired of hearing leaders say one thing and do another. I often want to ask them, “Do you really believe what you are saying?” Although we always hope someone is truthful, we have become skeptical listeners.

How many times have we heard politicians, sports figures, executives, and others vehemently deny something that has come out in the media, only to confess meekly that it is true some time later. Whatever happened to integrity? Whatever happened to owning up to what you did and taking your lumps? It always seemed to me that the punishment was never nearly as bad as the anticipation of it was. People are pretty forgiving, they just don’t like lying.

How many times have we heard people come right out and say the truth even if it is hard to hear? Not very often. It’s no wonder that trust is so difficult to cultivate in the workplace. Employees fear they are being lied to and wait to see if what managers say is really true. They watch not only what you say but what you do. If you want employees to engage and contribute honestly to your workplace, be honest. Be consistently truthful even when it’s hard. The result is strength, loyalty and caring–the results of integrity.

I attended a webinar today by Steven Smith, author of “Egonomics.” In it he was talking about the need for a balance between fierce resolve to accomplish goals and the need for personal humility. We often think the two are mutually exclusive. The problem comes into view when we are over-comparative with each other, according to Mr. Smith.

I was interested to hear the statistics that compare what we think of ourselves vs. what we think of others. Mr. Smith cited a study where 83% of people surveyed said they had confidence in themselves, while only 27% had confidence in others they work with. I found that interesting because in another assessment I have done with several clients the question asks something similar with similar results. It detracts from teamwork if you think you work with people who do not care as much as you or are not as competent as you.

So, why is it that we think we are better than the others we work with? It has been consistent in surveys I have run that people will generally rate themselves higher in competence or commitment than others. What’s funny is that WE are the OTHERS to other people. If we think they aren’t as good as us and they think we aren’t as good as them, how can we expect people to work together collaboratively in confidence? As a leader, I think we need to be on the lookout for such behavior in the workplace and acknowledge contributions of everyone to raise the level of confidence in the teams. If there is a question of competence, that should be addressed.

Humility doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of self-esteem or competence, it does mean a lack of arrogance. If you think about it, the people we most often admire are those who are confident in themselves enough to lift others up. It’s all about making the pie bigger instead of making someone else’s piece smaller.

I attended a luncheon yesterday where the keynote speaker was Jeffrey Liker, author of The Toyota Way. He has recently published two additional books called, Toyota Culture and Toyota Talent. He discussed how Toyota has two value streams, their product value stream and their people value stream. They put as much effort into development of the right people processes as they do their product processes. This includes selection, job training, development, and culture engagement.

I think this is one of the things that sets Toyota apart from the average company. Few companies invest so much effort into the people systems, yet we hear that “people are our most important asset.” Because they invest so heavily into selecting the right people and making sure they get engaged in the culture, the employees are able to also get engaged in the product systems and the philosophy of continuous improvement, thereby keeping Toyota at the top of the heap in customer satisfaction.

The biggest difference I heard Mr. Liker say was that they hire someone with the idea that they have taken them into the company for life. Therefore, it is worth their investment to develop them. I think this is very different from the average company and therefore the average employee who see each other as expendable. It is the rare company that takes the time and effort to really engage their employees so they will want to stay and then provide them development opportunities so they can grow to be the best employee possible. Partly because of this, it is the rare employee who sees a company as a partnership for life where they can grow, contribute, and take pride in ownership of its success.

I am new to the blog world, but have decided to take the plunge. This will be a good forum for me to post the ideas that come to me from reading other articles and news items that might help you with your leadership and to hear from others about what is happpening in their world around these topics.  I think it all boils down to leadership when it comes to being a good manager. Anyone can be a controller or enforcer, but the people who choose to lead by inviting people to follow will more often get workers who are engaged and committed, thus creating a great work environment for not only the employee, but the manager as well.

Patrick Lencioni is an author I admire and I noticed he has a new book called, Three Signs of a Miserable Job. The three signs are 1) Anonymity, where the manager has little interest in you as a human being, 2) Irrelevance, where you can’t see how your job makes a difference, and 3) Immeasurement, the inability to measure your contributionto the organization’s success. He has in a nutshell put the content of many of my speeches and leadershp training.  I have not read the book yet, but plan to do so and will comment further once I have done so.

It is true that there are workers who do not step up to the plate and perform well, but we as leaders must look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we have done everything we can to provide a good environment for performance excellence.