INDIFFERENCE: When “I don’t care” infects your company

Every company suffers from indifference. Without question, it is the single most toxic behavior that wreaks havoc on company cultures and performance. It can be as subtle as someone saying, “Why should I do that?” or “That’s not my job – I’m not paid to do that.” In contrast, indifference can be as blatant as people collectively refusing to follow new company procedures or systems and sounds like, “If they’re not doing it, why should I?” No matter how you view it, indifference is a toxic behavior that can spread rapidly throughout an organization.

In business, there are two areas of indifference. The first is leadership indifference that can be observed in many forms. It can be a leader who lacks compassion and respect for his or her employees. Leaders who talk down to people or reprimand in public. When a leader refuses to follow the same rules and procedures that employees are held accountable to. It is indifference when a leader lacks concern for budgets, employee feedback systems and other essential responsibilities. Yes, indifference begins at the leadership level and the trickle down quickly becomes a raging river.

LEADERSHIP: To be everything (including what you’re not)

If you had to describe what your role as a leader is, what would you say? What’s interesting about this question is that every leader will offer a slightly different perspective that is unique to his or her leadership abilities and experiences. Some revel in the thrill of leading a start-up or turnaround, only to find boredom and frustration in the day-to-day running of the business. Some leaders are innovative visionaries who can see opportunities where others do not. There are leaders who can communicate with extreme clarity and purpose while others struggle to find the right words. There are leaders who master the process of having fierce conversations while others dread and avoid them. And there are leaders who love data, numbers, systems and structure while others find them confusing and confining. The list goes on.

I bet you have high expectations for yourself as a leader – and you should. As leader, you must envision, guide, mentor, plan, solve, track, analyze, praise, discipline, inspire, understand, be accountable, hold others accountable, make tough decisions, drive sales, create profit, manage cash flow, be compassionate and create just the right company culture. I don’t know about you, but I felt my stress level increase just writing this. It’s as if the title “leader” will somehow magically bestow all the qualities of a great leader upon you. But alas, leaders are not superheroes. They’re simply individuals with the drive to find their own version of fulfillment at the top of the success ladder. The crowded middle and lower rungs just don’t do it.

Business is really about connecting with customers

“A place where everybody knows your name.” That’s the famous line from the TV show Cheers. Every time Norm entered the bar, in unison, everyone would shout, “Norm!” He even had his own bar stool right next to mailman Cliff Clavin. Cheers may have been just a TV show, but it demonstrated the power of a business making connections with its customers. There’s something special about being treated as a valued customer – to be greeted by name and to have your preferences remembered. But in these systematize everything days, it’s easy for a business to rush by that most precious of business behaviors – connecting with customers.

By connecting, I mean the magic that occurs when human beings (employees) extend friendliness, warmth, caring and respect to other human beings (customers). You can systematize every minuscule process on your quest to achieve consistency and predictability, but it’s impossible to systemize the warmth of a smile, a caring voice and an engaging personality. These are human qualities. And it takes the right leadership, environment and culture to energize these qualities to a level that customers not only experience, but it draws them back for more.

Is it time to take back control of your company?

Companies evolve. At any given time there are forces at work that influence the speed, performance and direction of your company – not to mention your effectiveness as a leader. The current players on your team may be just the right mix of personalities and abilities. They are a dynamic and determined group that keeps the company energized and its culture pristine. (Every leader remembers that perfect team and how it performed.) Likewise, your current players may not represent the best mix of personalities and abilities. Things move agonizingly slow, drama is a daily occurrence, and your job as leader just isn’t fun anymore. The economy is an ever-present force that either works for you or against you. As a leader, how do you capitalize on the opportunities and respond to the threats?

And then there is you – the leader. The forces of constantly shifting company culture as employees come and go, the shifting economy, and competitors that are really on their game, all have an impact on how you lead. When things are humming along just right, you may get too comfortable and dial down the intensity of your game more than you should. (Just so you know, it happens to every leader.) The question is how long will it take you to dial up your intensity and re-ignite your company’s competitive fire? How long will it take to re-plot the company’s course? How long will it take to make those tough decisions that didn’t seem so critical in the good times?

What does “working on your business” really mean?

“Are you working on your business, or in your business?” This working “on or in” your business statement has been bandied around for years. For the leader of a business, it just makes sense. If you’re spending the majority of your time doing “the work” of the business, who’s plotting the course for growth and continued success? Who’s making sure the business has the resources, money, talent, systems and a rock-solid culture to ensure continued success? Who’s ensuring that everyone is focused and accountable? When all these “who’s” have a leader’s name attached to them, the result is what I call “the No-Compromise Company.”

No matter what your interpretation of “working on your business” is, the big question is, what are you actually working on? Furthermore, does what you’re working on really qualify as “high-value stuff?”

To help clarify what working on your business really means, my friend Jack Stack says, “If you’re making decisions today that will affect your business in the next 30 days, you’re making the wrong decisions.” As leader, working on your business means that you are not getting bogged down in the day-to-day running of the business. Your focus must be on the opportunities and potential dangers down the road – not on the immediate activities.

When broken commitments compromise trust

If you’re in leadership, there is no avoiding the quagmire that results from broken commitments. I’ll get the easy part of this discussion out of the way first. As a leader, you must view every commitment you make as a sacred contract to perform and deliver. If you promise to return a call before the end of the day – do it. If you commit to a meeting – be there on time and be prepared. If you promise to complete a project – get it done. Every broken commitment chips away at the level of trust others have in you. If you don’t earn and maintain the trust of those you lead – you cannot effectively be their leader. It’s that simple.

The more difficult aspect of leadership is the ability to hold others accountable for the tasks, responsibilities and commitments they make. Quite frankly, holding others accountable is much of what leadership is all about. It’s when leaders fail to hold others accountable that compromise and trust issues surface. The longer the leader allows these issues to continue, the more they chip away at trust – for both the offender and the leader. Yes, a leader can lose the trust of employees by allowing others to fail to deliver on even the most basic of commitments.

A long walk in the right direction

A few days ago, I did a No-Compromise Leadership talk for a Chicago area Chamber of Commerce. The group was a mix of entrepreneurs and executives. Since I only had about 45 minutes, I decided to grab their attention with the following no-compromise reality check: Do you want to keep doing what you’re doing for another five years? By “doing what you’re doing,” I was referring to the way their companies and cultures function now under their leadership. By the looks on their faces, it was clear that the breakfast they had just eaten wasn’t going to digest that well.

It’s a simple truth that leading a company is like walking through a complex maze full of twists and turns leading to dead ends where you can get frustrated and stuck. Tenacious and courageous leaders have the best chance of making it through the maze. It isn’t easy. And truly enlightened leaders understand that solving one maze leads straight into an even more challenging one. Change is relentless.

Employee Challenges: When do they end?

While discussing leadership responses to employee challenges at a recent Strategies seminar, a business owner asked, “When does it end?” The entire room could feel the frustration and anguish in her voice. “It’s like a battle that never ends,” she continued. “You nurture, coach, inspire and discipline, and just when you think you’ve got everyone on the same page, it starts all over again. Doesn’t it ever end?” These statements were not coming from a naive business owner. She clearly understood that the answer to her question was, “No, it doesn’t end.”

No doubt, employee challenges can wear you down. From behavioral issues and performance problems to simply following the policies and procedures of the company, leading people can be like a game of “what are they going to throw at me next?” Likewise, leadership can be an incredible journey of discovery of your own ability to grow a company by harnessing and orchestrating the abilities of those you lead. Simply put, only you can decide how you want to perceive your own leadership journey.

Giving it all you’ve got!

It was a cold December night that I asked Bruce Hourigan, Strategies vice president of business development, to attend a special meeting with me in a small restaurant in Old Saybrook, Conn. I had been encouraging Bruce for some time to get a road bike and start riding with me. When he asked what the meeting was about, I just told him it was for some charity bike ride.

When we got to the meeting, people were asking Bruce what kind of bike he rides. He replied, “I don’t have a bike.” The meeting started and the presenter had a beautiful PowerPoint presentation on the ride and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund that we would be raising money for. Bruce was clearly being a good sport as he took in the experience. At the end of the presentation, I signed us both up for the August 29th 100-mile JDRF ride in Killington, Vt., complete with hills and thrills – and a commitment for each of us to raise $3,000. We both got some nice looking jerseys and we left. Bruce was still being a good sport as he tried to comprehend exactly what I signed him up for.

That night began an interesting journey for Bruce and I. Although I had done long rides like that before, I never did 100 miles in the challenging Vermont hills. And Bruce didn’t even own a bike. (I took Bruce to the local bike shop where he planned not to spend more than $700 on a bike. But alas, he fell in love with a Trek Madone 5.2 and spent $3,500.)

After the recession, ask the right questions now!

The question most often asked during a recession is: When will it end? It’s the natural tendency for a return to normal – to business as usual. But as the economy continues to show signs of recovery, prudent leaders are asking very different and extremely tough questions. Rather than slipping back into old leadership patterns, they’re asking how they must change as leaders to adapt to what will clearly be a new and challenging economic reality. Simply put, if you think business will return to “normal,” that stress levels will dial down, you’re thinking is going to lead you down a dangerous path that doesn’t end in the “happy days” of yesteryear.

Although there were clear signs in 2008 that a recession was looming, the economy tanked so fast that many businesses were caught off guard and unprepared for rough times. Savvy leaders engaged quickly to cut expenses and plug financial leaks. Leaders that acted quickly and decisively faired better. Those that hesitated felt the pain of weakened sales and poorly controlled spending.