Vicki Anderson

This is a universal question from supervisors. My answer is simple:
1) Ask for the outcomes you want.
2) Define clearly what the outcome looks like and why it is important
3) When you see people doing what you want, reinforce it. If they are not doing what you want, correct it immediately.

While this sounds so common sense, it is amazing how many people work with very general instructions from their supervisors. Most people know how to do a job if they have been trained properly, but they rarely know why they do it or what the expected outcome is. Alternatively, many people are told the outcome, but not the process of how to get there.

Being a supervisor today means responsibility for more people than you can truly take care of. I find it typical for people to supervise 30+ people. Under these circumstances, it is even more important that each communication be useful to both parties. That means knowing which information the person needs—process or outcome, or both.

Communicating your expectations clearly takes more time at the beginning, but it saves more time along the way and achieves more positive results. When assigning a job to an employee, use your time efficiently by clearly stating the outcome you desire. The more complex the task, the more important this becomes. However, even simple tasks are often assigned with vague instructions such as, “Get me a copy of the XYZ report when you have time.” The employee doesn’t know whether that means drop everything and do it now, do it by the end of the day, or do it in the next couple days. People generally want to please their supervisors. Give them information to do that.

If you want to achieve consistent results from employees, you must be consistent in your reinforcement. This is the element that takes more time, but has such a big payoff.

When you see people taking actions you want, tell them so. This doesn’t have to be a flowery speech. It can be a simple, “You’re on the right track,” or “Thanks for getting on that project so quickly,” or “Looks like you’ve made that correction we talked about yesterday.” You can also leave a post-it note or send an email.

When people go off-track, get them back on the right path quickly by clarifying your instructions and the outcomes you stated earlier. Make sure they have the resources to get the job done—that means people, knowledge, and tools. Let them know the impact their error has on the product or process so they know why you are correcting them. Give them useful information that will help them succeed, such as “When you don’t get that part sanded smooth enough the first time, it means the next person has to stop and fix it before they can do their part of the process. This causes delays and extra work for others. Please make sure you sand the parts smoothly enough that the next person can fit their part on easily.”

Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz who had the power all along to go home if she chose, supervisors do not realize the power they hold in achieving the results they want. The majority of employees want to succeed, but they don’t know what the supervisor is looking for, so they try different things to get attention—sometimes the wrong things. You get consistently right behavior when you ask for what you want, define the details as necessary, and reinforce it when you see it.

Just look around at the big company failings. Just look at all those egos that thought they could do anything. You could get the idea that it would be better to be humble and less risky. Then we wouldn’t be in the trouble we are in now.

Before you get all smug in your righteousness, stop and think what it would be like without ego. Despite its negative connotations, ego is also associated with self-confidence. Self-confidence is the belief in your ability to do something. It’s the pride you have that you want to protect what is yours, whether possession or person. Ego goes wrong when your heightened self-confidence fools you into thinking you are invincible.

But what happens when we suppress ego? Where is the drive to excel? Where is the drive to innovate? Where is the leadersip to carry people forward when they are comfortable with the status quo? A group of people with little ego will fall into group think and take few risks. Without risk and failure there is no innovation. Without innovation we cannot accommodate changes that will occur around us. Survival of the fittest? Would that include egos?

Jim Collins, in Good to Great, coined the term “Level 5 Leaders” to say that they have a balance of ego and humility. A Level 5 Leader will provide enough forward impetus to move the organization toward success, while keeping his or her need for personal aggrandisement in check. This person is rare indeed because it is so easy to get caught up in the “big life.” Perhaps if we were better coaches of each other, we could learn to develop these traits to give us the best of both worlds. We sure know the outcome if we don’t. We will continue to be at the mercy of ego instead of using it for good.

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. I remember clearly that morning as I stood in my client’s office in Oklahoma City. Suddenly we heard a loud noise and car alarms in the parking lot started going off. We didn’t know what was going on until one of their employees called in that he was on his way to work driving on I-35 near downtown when the explosion moved his car across the highway. He said to turn on the radio because he thought there had been an explosion. All day we listened to the radio about people going down to help until they told people not to come because they were getting in the way.

When I called home in the afternoon to say I was leaving, they were so glad to hear from me because they didn’t know where I was in Oklahoma City. It never occurred to me that they might have heard about it and worrried about me.

The shock of the event was so real to me even though I wasn’t downtown that I never could go down to look at the site until it was all torn down. It felt like I was being a voyeur to someone else’s pain. I have since been to the memorial several times but while it is so peaceful, it reminds me of the day that seemed so tragic and shook us up.

My loss was only a feeling and that is minimal compared to those who lost loved ones. However, I find that as in all cases we remember what is important to us or impacts us the most. We see things through our own lens every day. Therefore, how it seems to us will be different than how it seems to someone else.

As a leader we should remember this as it relates to our team members. What may seem obvious to us may not be obvious to someone else. What may be a big deal to us may not be a big deal to someone else. What you remember will be different from what someone else remembers. And that can be a good thing, sometimes.

In a commercial from the local Creek Nation Indians encouraging people to send back their census forms one of the actors asked, “What kind of an ancestor will you be?” Beyond being counted in the 2010 census, it goes to something I have talked about before, which is, “What legacy will you leave by being a leader?”

In 150 years people will look back at 2010 and speak of us as ancestors. They will talk about what we did today in our government, our companies, our churches, our communities, and our families. They may say we laid the groundwork for the positive future they now experience. Or, they may say that we were not able to accomplish much because…… Fill in the blank to all the reasons that pull us apart and keep us from working together.

America has always been known as a place you can be anything or do anything if you are willing to work hard enough. It’s incredible to me to think about what went on in the years leading up to 1776 that caused the colonists to put together a Constitution for freedom that still exists today as the model for democracy. It has been modified through the years, but its basic tenents remain.

So, as we head into the Easter weekend that signifies renewal and rebirth, I challenge you to think about the legacy you want to leave as ancestors to our future. Make a decision to lead wherever you are to build a future you can be proud of.

Last night I watched “Akeelah and the Bee” for the first time and what a leader she turned out to be. It is so hard for kids to be brave and do their thing in the face of peer pressure to do otherwise. However, this 11-year old girl decided to stand up and be the best she could be at spelling, even though her mother, brother, and other friends were against it. In the end she drew them to her side because she was inspiring. She had guts and a likability factor that won over her opponents.

I wish more young people would be willing to lead in areas that make sense to them. We all have the capability to lead as well as follow.

As adults we can lead by example to show we can both lead and follow depending on the situation. We should be willing to stand up and lead to set an example for others to follow. It is interesting to watch the increased activism in the U.S. today as people are deciding to stand up for what they believe. I don’t like to see the activism turn to violence, but America was founded on freedom of expression and we must engage in the dialog. We must be willing to listen to both sides and evaluate the right solution for us. Just getting polarized by your party, your race, your neighborhood, your union, etc. is blindly following. You will get what you deserve when you aren’t willing to lead by thinking for yourself.

Be willing to lead when it is your expertise and opportunity. You might find that there are followers eagerly looking for what you have. That’s what Akeelah found. At the beginning they made fun of her, but they all came around with support as they saw what she was doing was right.