One client recently said to me, "I have been telling my people these messages, but as I keep saying the same things, they get numb and the messages don't get through. So I need you as an outside expert to convey these messages." This is certainly not uncommon. It is the same reason teenagers don't listen to their parents but listen to some uncle they have just met. Playing such a role can be challenging. Changing people and their mindsets is not easy, but when can do that, we impact lives.
Is your leadership team a shark tank, a petting zoo or a mediocrity? A shark tank is overly competitive and ruthless, sometimes selfish and political. A petting zoo is too nice and accommodating. People avoid conflict and disagreement. A mediocrity is not a bit of both the previous types, but a lack of both traits. It is not brutally honest enough, yet people do not care or support one another enough either. It is complacent and indifferent.
If you find your leadership team in any of these modes, it is time to think hard what kind of leadership team do you really want to have. Expected behaviours and unacceptable behaviours must be communicated. Build the right culture in your leadership team, and they will build the right culture for your company.
Imagine those core value posters, with keywords like Integrity, Respect, and Customer First. Not that they are wrong, but when core values are defined as such, they are not helpful. No company aspires to NOT have integrity. When defining core values, we must test them against dilemmas our employees will face on a day to day basis. It is when they are guided to resolve everyday dilemmas that we build our organisation culture.
Imagine you work at a creative company. You have started work on a piece of art. Do you show it to your supervisors and colleagues now, so that you can get their feedback and course-correct early if necessary? Or is this going to take up everyone's time unnecessarily since your work is still early-stage? At Pixar, they have one clear principle - show your unfinished work. If you work for Pixar, you know clearly what to do.
Frame your core values through dilemmas, and you will build your organisation culture more effectively.
That's one easy way to understand organisation culture. What behaviours do you observe repeatedly in your organisation? Both positive or negative. What issues crop up repeatedly? What conflicts happen repeatedly? Are there things you know are wrong, but no one seems to be able to break out of the habit, the cycle? These patterns define your organisation culture. Changing organisation culture requires breaking the patterns. It takes courage and persistence. That's what leaders have to do. 1. Have those difficult conversations. 2. State expectations clearly. 3. Take action about behaviours you do not want in the organisation. Without leadership, the patterns will continue to repeat.
I participated in a Tzu Chi (慈济) event over the weekend. Tzu Chi is a non profit organisation which does humanitarian and disaster relief work. I was invited to the event to introduce modern boardgames to parents and children. One thing I learned at the event was girls with long hair must braid their hair. At first I thought this was odd. This rule felt old-fashioned, rigid and unnecessarily ceremonial. Why in this day and age still insist on a rule like this? However as I observed how they conducted themselves and how they worked together, I was reminded of this: "How you do one thing, is how you do everything." As leaders, we sometimes consider certain small things to be beneath us. We have more important things to attend to. Some things need not be fussed over. However, small habits that we build every day shape who we are. Small habits practised by an organisation shape its culture. If we can't do the small things well, who will trust us to do the big things? So, what is your equivalent of braiding your hair that you practise every day?
I recently read a comic strip in which the conversation went like this:
Worker A: If your boss gives you a meaningful purpose at work, would you accept a lower pay?
Worker B: No.
Worker A: That goes to show how much meaning and purpose is worth at work.
At first glance this sounds logical, but if we think deeper, this is thinking about the matter in a wrong way. If your boss tells you a purpose for the sake of cutting your pay, I would have serious doubts about that purpose and the intention behind sharing the purpose. So this comic isn't about purpose. It is about whether a leader treats their people fairly and respectfully. Think about these questions. Why do some people stay at a job despite being offered a higher pay elsewhere? Who do some people quit their jobs to take up lower-paying jobs in an unfamiliar industry? Ultimately people want more than money from their work life.
How much is purpose worth? Everything.
As leaders, how do we help our people find their purpose?
You are a department head. An employee was transferred to your department a month ago, and is performing poorly. He's been in the company for 10 years and you've known him just as long. You don't know how he managed to survive that long in other departments. He is certainly not a good fit in yours. You don't intend to keep him because he is affecting the productivity of your team. You want to ask his previous department head (your peer) to take him back. Who should you speak to, and in what order? (a) the other department head, (b) the employee himself, (c) your boss to whom the other department head also report, (d) others?
Definition: The type who do just enough to fulfil their duties. They don't want to do any more than what's in their job scope. They don't care about the company's vision and mission. They are not here to make friends. This is just a job and they do it only for the salary. They want to leave work on time. They don't want to listen to your motivational talks.
As leaders, our job is to inspire and develop people. How do we handle employees with a highly transactional mindset?
The first question we must ask ourselves is what kind of organisation we are. Do we have a role where a transactional employee can fit in just fine? Without negatively affecting the morale of the team? Work is getting done and they are productive? Then by all means leave them be and allocate your time on others where you can make more impact. If your organisation needs a creative and innovative culture, or your industry needs nimbleness and fast learning cycles, then you may not want to recruit or retain transactional employees. They will become counter productive.
How do you currently manage transactional employees?
A good leader is able to encourage others to speak up. A good leader is alert about when to stop talking and to listen instead. Listening gives us so much power. By understanding people, their motivations and their concerns, we can be much more effective and precise in making the right decisions.
"Ordering" not as in "commanding", but as in "arranging tasks in an organised way". One most glaring sign of the lack of leadership in an organisation is people don't know or don't care what they should be doing. They repeat the same routines without question. They continue doing what they are familiar with. They discuss and procrastinate, because no one has the will to make a decision and proceed. They wait for someone else to do it. To be an effective leader, you have to make those decisions, and be ready to take the blame. It is when everybody wants to avoid blame that organisations get stuck in a rut.
I have met many business leaders who assume their people are by default lazy, incompetent and need to be constantly monitored. When you assume the worst in your people, it shows in your day-to-day behaviour and how you treat them. Then don't be surprised they end up displaying exactly these negative traits. Malice is rarer than you think. When you have positive expectations people want to live up to that. Believing in the goodness of humanity makes you a happier person who creates positive change.
There is a Chinese proverb - you become the company you keep. It was through a series of unexpected events that I became part of this community of entrepreneurs - BNI Lighthouse Chapter, the largest BNI chapter in Malaysia with 100+ members. Entrepreneurship for many may be a lonely journey. I am grateful to have a community of partners, collaborators, supporters, mentors, and also some jokers, who are always by my side.
This is a very popular and enjoyable book which looks at how humans got to where we are today. It examines our society and our behaviour as a society. It is almost human civilisation summarised into one book. Experts are critical of the book, saying it doesn't actually bring much that is new, and challenging some of the claims in it. I find it accessible and educational. I gained many insights from it. I wouldn't have survived reading equivalent textbooks.
A big part of leadership is understanding human behaviour, not just individual behaviours, but also how we behave as a society and in complex organisations. When we learn to understand people, we get better at leading people.
Positivity can be bad, when dissenting views are being oppressed. When we can't admit to ourselves our mistakes. When we can't go near difficult topics. When raising a problem is given a response of "you need to have a positive mindset". Have you suffered from toxic positivity before?
Lack of exposure outside of the family business. Some 2nd generation business owners started their career in the family business right af...
