To state the completely obvious, without a few core components, no organization can endure the destructive nature innately a part of capitalism:
- Without the proper foundation, an organization will be destined for eventual failure.
- In our organizations we need to focus on a much more diverse workforce so we don’t miss opportunities due to our cultural biases
- Management doesn’t cut it alone any more – need to be a LEADER who has strong management skills. Often in organizations we do little to bring out the best in individuals, much less to be a team – from a management level, typically you find groups of moderately functional individuals but NOT a team or team focus
- The ideal organization is something that many strive for but few achieve – roadmap is there but it is HARD WORK – good enough ends up being your enemy
- Don’t be foolish enough to believe that you have to accomplish everything yourself – great people bring about greatness, but it’s not a solo act
- Great organizations become great only when leaders lead, place a strong emphasis on both people and performance and are customer driven (1st OR 3rd party).
- Performance, however, has come to mean the financial statement and results returned, not the process along the way – in other words, we’re myopic in our obsession with results (and perhaps not even key ones) to the point where we ignore performance
- More rather than less is being demanded of employees instead of quality
- Employees are cognizant of the fact that leaders are de-evolving and no longer leading but micromanaging
- As confidence is lost, employees lose flexibility and change becomes improbable
- As a result, organizational and people issues take/waste more time than before
- While the joke about radio station WIIFM is still relevant, it is being augmented/brought to the forefront by today’s organizations and Gen Y/Z
- How do we fix it?
- Train leaders to lead … but that requires both the people and the programs in place
- Check reality regularly – get the pulse of your team … but also take a passive approach to monitoring (eg # of sick days/timing of sick days)
- Make sure your leaders never lose touch with their people – keep your office door open and be “on the floor” as much as you can.
- Make CULTURE a priority/key performance indicator by dedicating a team to it and then following through on their action items