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Organizations that succeed have proud employees (Part 1 of 3)
Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on building successful organizations. Proud people working together to achieve clearly defined objectives. This is what I have observed successful organizations to be. The statement includes three critical components: proud people, working as a team and working toward clearly defined objectives. In this column I will address the first of these components: proud people. In future issues the other components will be discussed. The core of any organization is its people. But in a successful organization, people are proud. They are proud of the quality of what the organization does, proud of the contributions they make and proud to be associated with the organization. And this pride shows in the manner in which people respond to the question “Where do you work?” Their bodies and voices project pride as they answer, “I work for. . .” But why are they
Delicate Balance Makes The Team Approach Work (Part 2 of 3)
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a series on building successful organizations. Anyone in an organization who believes he or she can do something alone is in trouble. By definition, it takes people working together for an organization to be successful. Some time ago, a friend of mine who had started a company and had seen it grow was frustrated that everyone wanted to work with him and not his associates. Because of his strong team beliefs and because he knew why he was successful, he took out a full-page ad in a regional publication. At the top of the page the ad read, “Freeman AND ASSOCIATES.” The only other thing on the page was at the bottom – “Please note where our strength lies.” In order for people to work together successfully, senior management must support a team approach, both in words and in actions. Many times
Defined Objectives Critical Toward Reaching Goals (Part 3 of 3)
Editor’s note: This is the last of a three-part series on building successful organizations. “Proud people working together to achieve clearly defined objectives” has been the theme of this series. The last two Management Line columns have focused on “proud people” and “working together.” This month the focus is on clearly defined objectives. Clearly defined objectives first calls for planning — identifying (1) where we’re going and (2) how we’re going to get there. In working with many organizations, I have observed that managers tend to react rather than act. They resent spending the upfront time needed for effective planning. “Plan? Do I really have to? I just don’t have the time!” On the short side it seems easier to jump in, get going, and see immediate results. On the long haul, we effectively meet our goals only if we map out in advance the specific way to get there.
Leadership for the Third Millennium
Leadership for the Third Millennium: A call for visionaries and influencers The topic of leadership has become immensely popular in the past decade with multiple books, essays and research studies attempting to define the concept of leadership. Pulitzer Prize winner John Burns McGregor asked, “Is leadership simply innovation – cultural or political? Is it essentially inspiration? Mobilization of followers? Goal setting? Goal fulfillment? Is a leader a definer of values? Satisfier of needs?” His conclusion is “Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.” (McGregor, 1995). Leadership Defined The definitions of leadership can extend from more traditional ideas of power, authority and control to a more contemporary context of influencing, vision and moral leadership. Based on one’s background, experience, education and working relationships the definition of leadership may vary. My personal definition of leadership is: “Influencing followers toward achieving a common vision”. This simple definition
Motivate, Don’t Seduce
A new leader, meeting for the first time with the employees of a recently-acquired company, tells them with a warm smile, “Don’t worry, little will change. You are good people and I’m looking forward to working with each of you.” As we fast forward to one year later, in fact much has changed – 20% of the employees have been downsized and 25% had to move to a new location. As for the new leader and his staff – to quote one of the employees, “Our new leadership sure treats people differently. I remember the days when we didn’t have all this paperwork regarding performance appraisals.” At the same time, the leader quoted earlier says to some of his old colleagues, “I just don’t understand why the new employees don’t trust us.” Through my personal experiences over the past 25 years in working with companies’ merger and acquisition change processes,
Balancing Relationships Can Prevent Future Disaster
Handling stress. Managing time. Preventing burnout. What’s the secret? Obviously, there is no secret or magic formula. However, one factor which often contributes to our effectively handling our work is the ability to balance our home, community, and work relationships. In this article I will discuss our relationships and how to manage them. In part II I’ll discuss how we can strengthen and maintain balance in our home, community, and work relationships. First, let’s define the term relationship. The definition I like, which as first used by Dr. David Travland, is that a relationship is a dynamic contract between two people or groups of people. The two key words are “dynamic” and “contract.” Dynamic indicates activity, force, or change; contract indicates agreement. Relationships, these dynamic contracts between people, are developed because of our human interdependence. As individuals we need each other. We need each other for survival, such as food,
