Building an Ecosystem of Success
Several years ago I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a leadership conference in Athens, Greece. Linda Galindo, accountability expert and executive coach, was the keynote speaker on our final day of the conference. Aside from being one of the most engaging keynotes I have ever sat through...it was also one of the most impactful on my own leadership journey. There were three main takeaways that I want to share with you on building an ecosystem of success.
Talk to not about
Imagine this - A coworker approaches you to express their displeasure with your boss, a fellow co-worker, someone they supervise, etc…My guess is it didn’t take you that long to imagine...could have happened as recently as today, am I right?? Organizations -- schools or businesses -- where people talk about those they have an issue with rather than talking to the individuals with whom they have the issue will always struggle to gain traction. High performing organizations talk to each other not about each other. It is imperative that those in leadership positions root out this practice for their team.
My favorite way of handling this was when approached by someone complaining about someone else, I would ask them to hold on for a second...then I picked up the phone and invited the other person to join us. There was always a strange happy feeling as I watched the blood drain from their face as they realized they had to confront the person they were just complaining about instead of passing the burden of that conversation on to me. Quickly, our team understood that we talk to and not about each other.
No meeting after the meeting
We are all familiar with the meeting after the meeting. Some organizations do the majority of their work in the meeting after the meeting. Meeting after the meeting refers to the informal gathering of select individuals that were a part of a larger, more formal meeting. This after meeting is often a place where we discuss how stupid so-and-so’s idea was or that we cant believe this is the outcome. These meetings are often filled with information that would have been valuable to share in the formal meeting to help craft a better decision, but this information isnt shared because we are afraid to hurt feelings, or nervous to speak up, or we dont want to be viewed as a contrarian. The reasons for the meeting after the meeting are endless, but the one thing they all have in common - total waste of time. In addition to the wasted time, these informal meetings are culture killers. Meeting after the meeting is really an extension of talk to not about. Instead of directly addressing an issue by talking to, the meeting after the meeting folks like to talk about.
Leaders have to cancel the meeting after the meeting. One simple way is to not tolerate it. Establish early and often that we talk to and not about, and the meeting after the meeting needs to take place within the first meeting. Create a space where conflict is healthy. Allow for disagreement and discussion. Encourage people to challenge your thoughts and ideas. If you are comfortable being challenged it allows your team to feel comfortable being challenged. If you want to reach or exceed your potential as a team, the meeting after the meeting has to go!
Do not rescue, fix, or save underperformance
I saved the best for last. Rescuing, fixing, and saving under performance is a sure fire way to end up burned out, stressed, and failing as a leader. If you rescue, fix, and save, I promise, you will always have to rescue, fix, and save. Rescuing, fixing, or saving under performance robs someone of the opportunity to grow, and it also highlights your unwillingness to hold people accountable. This failure in leadership can have so many wide-reaching ramifications - your effective team members begin to view their work as less valuable, you regularly do the work of two, three, four, etc. people, you create an environment that is stagnant or declining. Holding people accountable is critical to the success and growth of an organization. If you find yourself rescuing, fixing, or saving under performers in your organization I would bet dollars to donuts you do so for one of three reasons - it is easier to do the task yourself than hold the person accountable or you are not clear in what your expectations are or you want to be liked...All three reasons are bad, bad, bad.
Leaders have a responsibility to deal with under performers within an organization. To be clear, under performers definitely need support in order to grow, but do not kid yourself, support is and should be temporary before seeing steps toward growth. If you get trapped in the constant “support” place (i.e. doing people’s work for them, taking on their responsibilities, etc) you're not supporting...you are hindering. You are hindering personal growth and organizational growth. Evaluate the opportunity cost of continuing to employ someone that is just not cut out for the job vs. the potential rock stars out there that could take your team to the next level. In this case, the devil you know is most assuredly worse than the devil you don’t know. Too often leaders get trapped by the path of least resistance - it is easier to do it myself, replacing them will be too much work for me, i can keep supporting to avoid a difficult conversation, accountability is too much work. All these shortcuts are a recipe for failure. Do you want to be liked more than you want to be effective? In my experience, leaders that have a stronger desire to be liked more than to be effective are often liked but not respected and definitely not effective. Conversely, most leaders that are effective are also liked and respected. Regardless, don’t allow your workplace to become a safe haven for under-performers. You will regret it!
There are so many factors that go into creating an ecosystem of success. Many of these factors are personal to you as a leader and are dependent on your leadership style, personality, or approach. These three takeaways that I have shared transcend preference. These three takeaways are present in any high-performing team. When creating the ecosystem that works for you remember -- talk to not about, no meeting after the meeting, and don’t rescue, fix, or save underperformance!
Dr. Tim Tenneriello, COO
