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Involvement

BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement: Adaptability

by Ron Potter

Adaptability and Involvement

Adaptability and Involvement are the two quadrants that make up the left side of the Denison Culture Chart.  This side of the chart identifies “Flexible” cultures.  Cultures that adapt well.  Cultures that respond quickly to customers and markets.  In today’s fast-paced environment, flexibility is a requirement.  (Just as a heads-up, we’re going to talk in a couple of weeks about Stability being a required element as well.  Makes your head hurt doesn’t it?  That’s just one of the reasons that Leadership is hard.  It doesn’t just come with the title.

External Focus

So now we’ve seen that Mission and Adaptability (top of the chart) indicates an External Focus for the companies.  Companies strong in these two areas tend to sustain growth and are constantly listening to and looking at the marketplace.  They’re good at spotting the next big thing in the market place and making decisions that help them take advantage of those coming changes.

Flexible

The Flexible Cultures (Adaptability and Involvement noted above) indicated companies that are constantly changing.  Or maybe it indicates that the companies are good at working in ever-changing markets.

One company had a culture score that was lowest in the Vision and Strategic Direction and Intent areas while being quite strong in all of the Flexible areas on the left side of the chart.  We asked about the low scores in the Mission quadrant, wondering how they kept going without much vision or strategic thinking for the future.  They indicated that their market was changing so rapidly that figuring out a vision and direction was almost useless.  If they didn’t keep up with the rapid changes in the marketplace, they weren’t going to be around to worry about long-term (even 24 months) vision.  They were right.

Focus

In general, it’s always good to expand the Culture Survey as much as possible in every direction.  However, there are “seasons of life” and moments of focus that may require expansion in a particular area.

Maybe you’re in need of growth which will require an external focus.  You may need to expand some or all of the Vision and Adaptability quadrants.

Maybe you’re in the need to keep up with or get ahead of a rapidly changing market or a disruptive competitor.  You may need to focus on the Adaptability and Involvement quadrants (Flexible).

Be aware of your surroundings, history, and future.  Which quadrant needs the most attention at the moment?

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BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement: Summary

by Ron Potter

Empowerment, Team Orientation, and Capability Development.  These are the three areas that make up the Involvement Quadrant.

For the most part, each of these three areas requires the right attitude or maybe attitude adjustment by the team leader.

Only the leader can provide the Empowerment (Delegation) required for individuals to take responsibility and accountability for their particular area.

While team members can create a great Team Orientation, the leader has the opportunity to destroy or hinder those efforts with a single spoken word or email response.

Capability Development can only be provided by the leader but more importantly, the team leader must know the “future potential self” of each member to get the most out of that development.

Great Cultures require Great Leadership

Isn’t it interesting that so much of the Involvement Quadrant requires great leadership?  While the overall emphasis here is about corporate culture, it just doesn’t happen without great leadership.

Maybe that’s why Culture is one of the three elements of my Team Leadership Culture company name.  Making it last on the list doesn’t diminish its value.  In fact, building a great culture should be the goal of every leader and team in the company.  Great Corporate Cultures are not less important than Team and Leadership, it’s the goal of Teams and Leaders!  Without a great culture, the corporation never lives up to its potential.

Customers Know

Poor cultures are immediately spotted by customers.  Have you noticed walking into a retail establishment you seem to immediately sense good and bad cultures?

In one experience I was being helped by a person who was dressed like they just came from a skateboard park.  Nothing against skateboard parks, I have grandchildren who enjoy them and are good skaters.  But it sends the wrong message to customers in a retail store.

When I inquired about a particular product the person could only say “I think its waterproof.  Sam at our other store knows more about this.”  When I asked if he could call Sam in the other store his response was “I don’t have the number for the other store.”  End of conversation.  And end of my ever again entering that store.  They obviously had a culture that was not customer-focused.

Customers know!

Let’s Explore

After looking at the unique combination of the Involvement and Adaptability quadrants, the next few blog posts will explore each part of the Consistency quadrant.  Join me.

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BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement: Capability Development

by Ron Potter

When I see low scores in the area of Capability Development, they seem to be driven by a couple of issues:

Leadership View

The leader and corporation almost always feel like they’re providing a great deal of training, education, and skill development opportunities and therefore don’t understand why the employees give them low scores in this area.

Employee View

Yes, the corporation gives lots of “training” but always where the corporation wants them to develop, not in the area where they want to grow.

Corporations often:

  • bring in trainers for the day
  • provide seminars
  • even provide opportunities to go off-site to one of these training sessions, seminars, or continuing education.

BUT, all of this capability development happens in the area where the company wants the employee to improve.  And it’s directed at improving the employee in the area where the corporation has them positioned.

One person said to me “I’m grateful to the company for providing me education and skills that have moved me to the top of the accounting department.  It provides me a great salary.  BUT, even though that’s an area where I have skills, that’s not the area where I have a passion.  I would much rather learn about and have an opportunity in the marketing area”.

I worked with Dr. Cloraire Rapaille for a few years.  He wrote a great book titled The Culture Code.  One of the Corporate Studies that Dr. Rapaille did for several major corporations was to help answer the question of what motivates people in the corporate world.  I believe it was in that corporate study where Dr. Rapaille coined the team “Future Potential Self.”  He discovered that people are not motivated by money, public recognition, or other forms of corporate motivational efforts.  People are motivated by what helps them get to what they see as their future potential self.

In my story above, the person’s “future potential self” was in marketing, not accounting.

Future Potential Self

So what does it take to provide training for a person’s Future Potential Self?

As a leader, you need to know what the Future Potential Self of your team members!  It requires that the leader get to know their team members on a human level.  Not just knowing their skill level.  Not just knowing their competencies.  But knowing who they are as a person.

One of my clients told me a story about putting in some long-hard hours on a particular project and yet felt very rewarded by their boss when the project was over.  When I asked what made them feel that way, they told me that their boss bought them the exact guitar they had been dreaming about.

Was it expensive?  It was very nice quality, but it was not considered a really expensive high-end guitar.

So what made it so special for them?

  • My boss knew that I loved playing in the church praise band.
  • My boss knew that any extra money we had right now went to caring for our new baby.
  • My boss was listening enough to know exactly which guitar I was desiring.

In short, their boss knew them as a human being!

That’s capability development.  Yes, they provided training courses to help them get better at their job.  Yes, they were offered off-site education to help improve their skills.  But, when added to the fact that their boss knew what they were desiring personally, that’s what improved the scores in Capability Development.

Know your people!  It makes everything else more valuable.

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BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement: Team Orientation

by Ron Potter

The Team Orientation of Involvement contains several wonderful elements.

  • Cooperation is Encouraged
  • People are not isolated pieces
  • Teamwork is used over Hierarchy
  • People see the relationship between their work and the work of the team (teams)

Problem Solving

I think one of the first things that get in the way team orientation is that corporate leaders and members are problem solvers.  Don’t get me wrong, problem-solving is a wonderful skill and is the reason why most people get promoted in organizations.  But it can also be the first thing that gets in the way of good team orientation.

Email Overload

As a consultant, I was often asked how to reduce the amount of email that was a burden to everyone.  I always looked at three things:

  1. Why was the email sent?
  2. What was the response?
  3. Who was cc:d on the email?
Why was the email sent?

The answer to this question was always something like:

I gave this person an assignment and they were looking for an answer or a solution.

What was the response?

The answer to this question was almost always – I sent them the answer or solution.

Who was cc:d?

The answer to this one always seemed a little more cynical.  It would go something like – Everybody and their brother

Immediately eliminate 40% of email

The solution to almost all overload email is accountability.  This incorporates questions one and two.

I would suggest to the leader that they stop reading email with the intent to respond.  And start asking themselves the question “Why am I receiving this email?”

Because corporate leaders are good problem solvers, their immediate (non-thinking) response is to figure out the problem and send the answer.  However, if they look at every email with the first question being, “Why am I receiving this email?”  their response becomes different than providing a solution.

Why am I receiving this email?

Some of the responses I’ve heard from the Leader:

  • I don’t have the right expertise on the team
  • The person sending the email doesn’t like the answer their getting from the team
  • The person doesn’t want to be held accountable for the solution.  Now they have an email to prove that I gave the solution, not them.

This last answer is hardly ever seen by the leader (they’re problem solvers.  They feel good about themselves for giving answers).  But it’s the reason many emails are generated.  It’s an easy way to get the monkey off their back and onto the back of the leader.  And the leader seldom notices.

Answer with a different response

I suggest that the leader answer the email with a simple question, “Why are you sending me this email?”

40% of email will cease!

This response sends the message “I’m not accepting the monkey”.  Figure it out.  It’s why I gave you the job.  Come to me with solutions, not questions.

Notice that this one response touches three and maybe all four of the Team Oriented Culture elements.

  1. Cooperation is Encouraged – It encourages the individual to work with their peers.  Cooperate.  Engage!
  2. People are not isolated pieces – It’s not just one person solving a problem (or their boss solving it for them).  Again, they need to engage with the team and peers.
  3. Teamwork is used over Hierarchy – I’m starting to sound like a broken record here but it’s not a top-down solution.
  4. People see the relationship between their work and the work of the team – Decisions are not made in isolation.  It’s not just the boss who sees the big picture.  The individual must understand it as well to provide a workable solution.

I used the example of email but it can be any electronic media.  In fact, texting adds a sense of urgency that makes the leader feel they must give a solution rapidly.

But, it can also apply to one-on-one meetings and even happen in team meetings.

Solution or Team Orientation

This idea that the leader should also be the problem solver is at the heart of most of these team orientation issues.  It’s a tough habit to break.  Don’t just solve the problem,

  • Encouraged cooperation
  • Make sure everyone functions as part of the whole, not just individual pieces
  • Don’t perpetuate the hierarchy, build the team
  • Make sure everyone understands how their actions and solutions impact the team

Create a team orientation, you’ll get better involvement.

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BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement: Empowerment vs Delegation

by Ron Potter

Empowerment vs. Delegation

Last week my blog post spoke of Empowerment in great cultures.  I need to take a short side trip here to talk about the differences between the words empowerment and delegation.  I’m not going to suggest that the words need to be used differently than they are today, that would be too large of a task.  But I believe it’s crucial that we understand the difference and also understand why one is required before you can accomplish the other.

These two words have become confused and misused in today’s language.  We currently view empowerment as a good thing and delegation as a bad thing.  I believe you need to empower before you delegate, and delegation is the higher form of the two words.

Let’s go back to the original definition of the two words and understand what they mean.

Empowerment

The dictionary says “To promote the self-actualization or influence of – make more confident – give someone a greater sense of confidence or self-esteem (Italics are mine)

Empowerment helps a person increase confidence, self-actualization, and self-esteem.  Empower is facilitated by allowing you to influence me on decisions and directions.  In other words, if I’ve Empowered you to run a portion of an organization, I will allow you to:

  • make all of your plans
  • run them by me to influence decisions to be made.

However, it’s still clear that the decisions are mine.

Advantages of Empowerment

There are a few advantages of using empowerment over a period of time:

  1. The individual grows and gets better as you question and learn the reasons for their planning and decision making
  2. You, the one granting empowerment, begin to learn how this particular person thinks and approaches issues.  It may be very different than you, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
  3. You may learn something along the way (see comments below about hiring experts)
  4. You gain a comfort level that the person is capable of tackling projects
Hiring the Expert

We often hire a person who is an expert in a particular area.  But, you must be very careful about how you grow and nurture that person.  If you start asking questions about how or why they reach a certain decision, their reaction might be:

  • Why am I being questioned?  I’m the expert.
  • Does this person trust me?
  • I can’t stand the “micromanagement” much more.  I may have made a mistake in taking this job.

When you hire an expert or someone with considerably more experience in an area than you possess, make sure you explain the reason for empowerment and when you expect to move up to Delegation.

Empowerment needs to take place in this situation for a couple of reasons:

  1. You need to learn and grow in this area.  This is the reason you hired an experienced expert.
  2. You need to know the key indicators of the job or project.  Is it going well?  Are we in trouble?  How will I know as soon as possible?  When do I need to explain a bigger picture or other influences where this person may not have an awareness?

If you let your “expert” know all of this ahead of time, they’ll be better equipped and more willing to answer your questions.

Delegate

The dictionary says, “Give a responsibility or task to somebody else – Assign responsibility or authority – Commit or entrust another.”

Delegation carries a much higher level of responsibility than empowerment.

In U.S. Embassies, the Ambassador is our official representative.  The Ambassador is our delegate.

I believe delegation is the higher state of the empowerment-delegation pair.  Delegation means you have been entrusted with a piece of the business to run as you see fit.  However, like a US Ambassador, regular check-ins are expected.  That is why we empower first so that key indicators can be understood and approved before the assignment is delegated.

Do they know the difference?

I’ve often asked leaders if they can tell me which direct reports are empowered and which they’ve delegated.  After understanding the definitions, they will tell me who they’ve delegated and who is still empowered.

My next question is, “Do your direct reports know if they’re empowered or delegated?”  The answer is usually no.  This causes confusion.  Each person is wondering why they are treated differently from another person.  One of the positive things I’ve seen happen when an explanation is made, the empowered quickly ask, “What do I need to do to have that delegated to me?”  This is the perfect question.

Misunderstood and timing

Because the original meaning of these words has been lost, I’ve seen managers and leaders assume that if they are going to empower someone, they should look the other way and let them do their thing.  That’s an abdication of leadership.  Leadership is still required in both empowerment and delegation.  Don’t sacrifice your role at the alter of empowerment.

The other issue is timing.  If you like having your direct reports continually in an empowered state, that is an indication that you’re letting your ego get in the way.  Delegation can be scary but is required for a healthy organization.  On the other hand, if you’re pretty good at getting people delegated (they’ll think of you as one of the best bosses they’ll ever have) and you still have someone in an empowered state even after a year of attempting delegation, you probably need to help that employee move elsewhere.  If they’re not willing or capable of accepting delegation, they may not be the right person for your organization.

Be Aware

Again, I’m not trying to change how language is used, but I do believe it’s important that you understand the differences to be effective.

The Denison Culture Survey (and almost everyone else) is using the word empowering.  The concept is correct.  Having people engaged, empowered, and taking responsibility for their work will have a positive impact on your organization.  Make it happen.

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BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement: Empowerment

by Ron Potter

Organizations with highly empowered employees have a couple of things in common:

Processes Pushed Downward

The first common point is that processes are pushed down the hierarchy to the lowest possible level.  When I say processes, the survey measures explicitly Information, planning, and decisions.

This point starts with the genuine belief that the information needed for good planning and decision making resides with the people closest to the action.  I used the words “genuine belief” because I’ve seen too many leaders and leadership teams proclaim that the needed information resides and is better understood at levels below them but their ego and position keep them from letting go of their own beliefs and assumptions.  They also believe they are the leaders of the organization because they are smarter and know better what to do then those who have not yet reached their level in the company.  If you’re a member of a high-level team, be very, very careful that you don’t let that ego prevent you from hearing and understanding the information from the people who are closer to the action.

During my blog series on being a Leader, I talked about the Sweet Rewards of Humility.  You can follow the link below if you have more interest.

My point is, you must be a humble leader in order to empower your people and organization.

Positive Impact and Involved

The second thing that organizations with highly empowered people have in common: Employees believe they can have a positive impact and are therefore highly involved in their individual work and the work of their team.  They are good at integrating their work with that of their team.

Integrating Work with Others

The key to positive impact and involvement? Integrating with others.  It takes good teamwork.  We’ll look at the elements of a Team Orientation in a future blog.  But for now, let’s remind ourselves of the aspects of building a good team:

  • Truth: Being able to speak the reality of a situation.  This ability must reside both in peer-to-peer relationships as well as a top-down, bottom-up relationship.
  • Respect:  We must respect the opinions and observations of everyone.  When people feel respected, they are willing to share and integrate their work with others.
  • Elegance: Good integration of work means reducing the friction caused naturally between different parts of an organization.
  • Commitment:  Integration means that sometimes, other parts of the organization must benefit.  It is possible to improve each part of the organization but not to maximize each part of the organization.  A good team requires a commitment to the best for the overall company, not just a particular part of the organization.
Empowerment is required for good involvement.
Good involvement is a requirement of a great culture.

 

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BlogCultureCulture Series

Culture – Involvement

by Ron Potter

We’ve looked at Mission and Adaptability.  Individually they’re each required to create a great culture.  But, we also looked at them as a pair.  The top of the chart says “External Focus” meaning that these two quadrants look to the outside world.  They are not focused on things internal to the organization but are focused on the future with Mission and on the customer and industry needs and changes with Adaptability.

Today we’ll begin focusing on the third quadrant, Involvement.  As a preview of things to come, you’ll notice that the left side of the chart is labeled “Flexible”.  This means that the two quadrants on the left side of the chart, Adaptability and Involvement help create very flexible organizations.  We’ll talk more about that when we look at Involvement in summary.

Like all of the other quadrants, Involvement has three subsections:

  • Empowerment
  • Team Orientation
  • Capability Development

There seems to be an abundance of “Engagement” surveys in the market place today.  I believe the root of these was based on the research of the Gallop Organization.  Their premise is that the more employees are “engaged” the more productive they are; leading to a more successful organization.  I agree with their premise.

I also agree that the Denison organization’s focus on empowerment, team orientation, and capability development direct the company and it’s employees to specific areas of engagement that have the greatest impact.  It’s not just engagement for engagement’s sake but focused engagement by empowering people, equipping them with the right capabilities and helping them work as united teams.

There is a lot to learn in this quadrant and as with the others, it’s easy to declare but difficult to implement.  Doing so will help you create a great corporate culture.

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