The Metiss Group's Blog

In 2012, there was a television commercial for Hyundai Sonata featuring a little boy following a man doing yard work and asking him “why?” about various questions.  At the end of the commercial, the man looks at his neighbor and then to the boy where he says, “Why don’t you go ask your Dad?”

It seems somewhere between childhood and management, leaders stop asking “why”.

The 5 Whys is a formal iterative question-asking technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem. The “5” in the name derives from an empirical observation on the number of iterations typically required to resolve the problem.

Great leaders are always trying to understand what’s going on.

Leaders who empower their team to ask “why” have more success.

If an administrative assistant prepared for the perfect meeting, yet the meeting did not go well, were they successful?  If the operations department increased productivity by 25%, yet the company missed its sales goal, were they successful?  If the sales department experienced record sales, yet the organization lost money, was that success?

Most people in an organization think of their department, work team, or individual contributions as being their most important focus and measure their success by how well those work units perform. Although the accomplishments of work units are important, at the end of the day, the success of the organization is all that matters. The goals and accomplishments of the whole team must take precedence.  For that to happen, leaders must clearly communicate the organization’s goals and objectives and reward everyone when the organization succeeds.

Leaders who empower their team to put the organization first experience more success.

Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common analogy of a woodcutter who is sawing every day for several days and is becoming less and less productive. The process of cutting dulls the blade. So the solution is to sharpen the saw periodically.

We’ve found that in practice, however, most people fail to understand what sharpening the saw really means. When leaders overwork themselves and their productivity begins to fall off, common wisdom says to take a break, maybe even go on vacation. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw – that’s putting the saw down. When a dull blade is put down for a while, the blade will still be dull when picked back up.

Sharpening the saw is actually an activity, just as the analogy suggests. Think about what it would mean to sharpen the saw. Here are some saw-sharpening ideas:

• Exercise
• Improved diet
• Continued learning (read, listen to audio programs, attend a seminar)
• Learn a new skill
• Organize the home or office
• Clear out a bunch of little tasks that have been put off

Now the woodcutter can’t just alternate between cutting wood and sharpening the saw indefinitely. Downtime is needed too, but it isn’t the same as sharpening the saw. The woodcutter can become even more productive by sharpening the blade, studying new woodcutting techniques, working out to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters.

Empowered leaders sharpen their saw and are even more successful.

Source: StevePavlina.com

Psychologists who specialize in goal-setting theory advocate setting sub-goals that are of moderate difficulty in pursuit of much larger goals.  Setting smaller goals helps build confidence and creates success, momentum, and motivation towards achieving the ultimate goal.

As leaders layout their annual goals, they should break them down into smaller sub-goals.  The sub-goals must be measurable and time-based.  For example, if the annual goal is to read ten business books, the first sub-goal might be “read 100 pages by the end of this month.”  If the annual goal is to hire five new sales associates, the sub-goal might be “define the ideal sales associate profile by the end of the quarter.”

Effective annual goals should be difficult and meaningful.  The best way to achieve those goals is by mapping out the smaller sub-goals, accomplishing them, and celebrating the success.

Empowered teams break down their goals into sub-goals for a successful year.

Leaders are constantly struggling to find time for the important but not urgent activities.  One of those activities is creating and updating the job descriptions/accountabilities for each of their direct reports.  Though HR or their direct reports may help, they need to take the lead for managing this critical leadership tool.

When creating or updating the job description/accountabilities (they should be updating it at least annually), it is important to get input from the key people interacting with the job.  These “stakeholders” might include the job’s incumbent, direct reports, peers, the leader’s peers, customers, or the leader’s boss.

Engaging all these stakeholders in defining the job creates “buy-in” and makes it much easier for direct reports to do their job.  Because everyone understands the challenges and expectations of the job, support is offered that would not necessary have been provided without an appreciation for the job’s complexity.

Leaders who empower their direct reports by having the key people they interact with help define their job will experience more success.