Do Everything You Can to Retain Great Employees
When you’re hiring employees, don’t settle. Secondly, never stop coaching employees. Finally, do everything you can to retain great employees.
As is also the case when it comes to customers, retention matters even more than acquisition. With customers, the usual figure is that repeat customers are five to ten times more profitable than newly acquired ones. Likewise, great employees are worth at least ten times what average ones are worth. [1]
So just as a dollar spent in customer retention can pay ten times the dividend of a dollar spent advertising for new customers, so a dollar…..or more to the point, an hour…..spent in employee retention can return ten times the equivalent investment in new hires. Do everything you can to make the thought of leaving your place of employment almost unimaginable for a great employee. This includes perks, bonuses, extra time off, flexible work hours, larger or better-positioned cubicles, and taking the time to make sure they know you appreciate the contribution they make to your organization. [1]
Hire great employees, coach them, and do everything you can to keep them. Let me give you five practical things you can do to keep great employees.
1. Know Them [2]
First, know your employees. Lincoln revealed the cornerstone of his own personal leadership philosophy, an approach that would become part of a revolution in modern leadership thinking 100 years later when it was dubbed “Management By Walking Around” by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their 1982 book -- “In Search of Excellence.” It has been referred to by other names and phrases, such as: “roving leadership,” “being in touch,” or “getting out of the ivory tower.” Whatever the label, it’s simply the process of stepping out and interacting with people. It is simply the process of establishing human contact.
We need to know how our people will respond in any given situation. We need to know who will have a tendency to get the job done on his own, or who will be more likely to procrastinate and delay. We need to know who can be counted on in an emergency and who can’t. We need to know who are the brighter, more able, more committed people. We need to know who shares are strong sense of ethics and values.
The most important asset a business organization has is its employees. So why not spend some time and money striving to more thoroughly understand who are your really great employees?
2. Listen to Them [7]
In his book, “Leadership Gold”, John Maxwell tells the story:
“A couple of rednecks are out in the woods hunting when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911. He frantically tells the operator, “Bubba is dead! What can I do?” The operator, in a calm, soothing voice says, “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is silence, and then a shot is heard. The guy’s voice comes back on the line and says, “Okay, now what?””
It is no accident that we have one mouth and two ears. Steven Covey writes: “When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply, we begin true communication and relationship building. Opportunities to then speak openly and be understood come much more naturally and easily.”
This is particularly an important point to know when it comes to great employees. Great employees really want to be listened to, respected, and understood. When leaders listen to them and use what they hear to make improvements that benefit the organization, then those great employees put their trust in those leaders. They want to work with those leaders. When leaders do the opposite – when they fail to listen – it damages the leader-great employee relationship. When great employees no longer believe that their leaders are listening to them, they start looking for someone who will.
3. Lead by Being Led
Third, lead by being led. As just stated, great employees want to be listened to. Great employees want their suggestions and recommendations considered and implemented. Our goal is to foster an environment in which our great employees sense little oversight and a large amount of freedom to “set the pace.” With great employees, we merely need to direct or point them in the proper path and allow them to lead us down that path. Rather than ordering or dictating, we need to refine our ability to direct others by implying, hinting, or suggesting.
One of the marks of true leadership genius is to create an environment that great employees relish to work in. Paraphrasing Lao Tzu: “A good leader is one who talks little, and yet, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, all his followers will say: ‘We did this ourselves.’” [3]
4. Don’t Send Your Ducks to Eagle School [7]
In his book, “Leadership Gold”, John Maxwell shares a lesson learned from Jim Rohn:
“The first rule of management is this: don’t send your ducks to eagle school. Why? Because it won’t work! Good people are found, not changed. They can change themselves, but you can’t change them. If you want good people, you have to find them. If you want motivated people, you have to find them, not motivate them…..Chalk it up to mysteries of the mind, and don’t waste your time trying to turn ducks into eagles. Hire people who already have the motivation and drive to be eagles and then just let them soar.”
This counsel very much applies to “retaining” great employees. Once you “know” who your great employees are, don’t try and turn your ducks into eagles. It just doesn’t work. Here’s why it doesn’t work:
o If you send ducks to eagle school, you will frustrate the ducks. Ducks are not supposed to be eagles – nor do they want to become eagles. Who they are is who they should be. Ducks have their strengths and should be appreciated for them. They’re excellent swimmers. They are capable of working together in an amazing display of teamwork and travel long distances together. Ask an eagle to swim or to migrate thousands of miles, and it’s going to be in trouble. Leadership is all about placing your great employees in the right place so they can be successful. As a leader, you need to know your great employees and let them work according to their strengths. As a leader, you should always challenge people to move out of their comfort zone, but never out of their strength zone. That is one reason you don’t send ducks to eagle school. Secondly…..
o If you send ducks to eagle school, you will frustrate the eagles. Eagles don’t want to hang around with ducks. They don’t want to live in a barnyard or swim in a pond. Their potential makes them impatient with those who cannot soar. People who are used to moving fast and flying high are easily frustrated by people who want to hold them back.
As a leader, your job is to help your ducks to become better ducks and your eagles to become better eagles – to put individuals in the right places and help them reach their potential. You shouldn’t ask someone to grow in areas where they have no natural talent.
Don’t make the mistake made in a story borrowed from Charles Swindoll’s “Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life”:
“Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do something meaningful to meet the problems of the new world. So they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum of running, climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, he was better than his instructor was! However, he made only passing grades in flying, and was very poor in running. Since he was so slow in running, he had to drop swimming and stay after school to practice running. This caused his webbed feet to be badly worn so he became only average in swimming. But “average” was quite acceptable, therefore nobody worried about it – except the duck. The rabbit started at the top of his class in running, but developed a nervous twitch in his leg muscles because he had so much makeup work to do in swimming. The squirrel was excellent in climbing, but he encountered constant frustration in flying class because his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He developed “charley horses” from overexertion, so he only got a “C” in climbing and “D” in running. The eagle was a problem child and was severely disciplined for being a non-conformist. In climbing classes, he beat all the others to the top, but insisted on using his own way of getting there!”
5. Give Them the Credit/You Take the Blame [2]
Finally, if you want to retain great employees, give them the credit and you take the blame. As leaders, we’d like to think that when people leave, it has little to do with us. But the reality is that we are often the reason. Some sources estimate that as many as 65 percent of people leaving companies do so because of their managers. We may say that people quit their job or their company but the reality is that they usually quit their leaders. [7]
So what is one solution to retaining great employees? Always give credit where credit is due and, conversely, accept responsibility when things go wrong. When a great employee does a good job, praise, compliment, and reward the individual. On the other hand, be prepared to shoulder the responsibility when they make mistakes. Always let your great employees know that the honor will be all theirs if they succeed and the blame will be yours in they fail.
Abraham Lincoln practiced this laudatory style right up to the final days of his life. During his last public address, made to gathering of people outside the White House on the evening of April 11, 1865, he was filled with modesty for himself and praise for the soldiers who had won the union victory: “No part of the honor, for plan or execution, is mine”, he asserted. “To General Grant, his skillful officers, and brave men, all belongs.”
Likewise, the president readily accepted responsibility for the battles lost during the Civil War. He tried to let his generals know that if they failed, he too failed. Throughout the war Lincoln accepted public responsibility for battles lost or opportunities missed. In the days following the battle of Gettysburg, for example, the president was distressed Meade’s delay in pursing Lee before his army made it back across the Potomac River. Well after the battle, in an attempt to spur the general into an active confrontation with Lee, the president sent him a letter urging an immediate attack. “If you can now attack him on a field no worse than equal for us,” said Lincoln, “and will do so with all the skill and courage, which you, your officers, and men possess, the honor will be yours if you succeed, and the blame will be mine if you fail.”
Endnotes
[1] Adapted from “A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology” by Bob Lewis
[2] Adapted from “Lincoln on Leadership” by Donald T. Phillips
[3] Adapted from “It’s Your Ship” by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
[4] Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, Page 5-6
[5] Adapted from “The Mark of a Leader” by Doug Keeley
[6] Adapted from “The Ten Rules of Good Followership” by Colonel Phillip S. Meilinger
[7] Adapted from “Leadership Gold” by John Maxwell
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Managing & Developing Your Employees -- Pt. 2
"Never Stop Coaching Employees"
When you’re hiring employees, don’t settle. The second inviolable principle is: “never stop coaching your employees.” While there are many things you can “coach” your employees to do, what aspects of coaching do you focus on? Let me provide you with five suggestions.
1. Cast a Shared Vision & Continually Reaffirm It
First, cast a shared vision and continually reaffirm it.
Churchill [5]
In 1940, the then disgraced Sir Neville Chamberlain stepped aside and Winston Churchill was made Prime Minister of Britain without an election. Like so many great leaders, he inherited a problem that his predecessor had allowed to fester and grow. Churchill knew that Britain would be the last major defensive post in Western Europe that could stand up to Hitler’s attack. If England fell, the whole face of the earth would change. He knew that the weight of the free world was on his shoulders, and that he must rally his countrymen around a “shared vision” to hold back the German attack and ultimately lead them to victory.
Using his skills as a linguist and orator, and his burning passion for England and for the cause of freedom, he focused on rallying his country’s pride. This can be seen clearly as the clash that became known as “The Battle of Britain” (in the summer and autumn of 1940) approached. In a speech to the nation, Churchill put the stakes of victory on the line for his countrymen very clearly:
“I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us…Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands…But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the light of perverted science…Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: ‘This was their finest hour.’”
Across the country, glued to their radios, the people of England instantly understood the job ahead, the stakes, the style of the enemy, and the outcomes of failure or victory. There was no doubt about exactly what had to be done, no debate about whether it would happen.
Lincoln [2]
Likewise, it’s well known and documented that during the Civil War Abraham Lincoln -- through his speeches, writings, and conversations -- “preached a vision” of America that has never been equaled in the course of American history. Lincoln provided exactly what the country needed at that precise moment in time -- a clear, concise statement of the direction of the nation and justification for the Union’s drastic action in forcing civil war. Everywhere he went, at every conceivable opportunity, he reaffirmed, reasserted, and reminded everyone of the basic principles upon which the nation was founded. His vision was simple, and he preached it often.
We can learn much from these two leaders. We can learn that effective visions and organizational mission statements can’t be forced upon our employees. Rather, they must be set in motion by means of persuasion. Our employees must accept and implement them wholeheartedly and without reservation. When this is achieved, truly accepted visions tend to foster innovation, risk-taking, empowerment, and delegation. If our employees understand what is expected of them, what the organization is trying to accomplish, then it becomes possible to create a climate in which results and progress continually occur. When coaching your employees, cast a shared vision and continually reaffirm it.
2. Set Goals and be Relentlessly Results-Oriented [2]
Second, set goals and be relentlessly results-oriented. Goals unify people, motivate them, focus their talent and energy. As just stated, Lincoln united his followers with the “corporate mission” of preserving the union and abolishing slavery, and this objective became more firm and resolute with the onslaught of the Civil War.
Even so, Lincoln realized that the attainment of such a successful outcome had to be accomplished in steps. So he continually set specific short-term goals that his generals and cabinet members could focus on with intent and immediacy. And he created a contagious enthusiasm among followers by demonstrating a sense of urgency toward attainment of his goals. He wanted them all to be like the dog in one of his favorite anecdotes:
“A man…had a small bull-terrier that could whip all the dogs of the neighborhood. The owner of a large dog which the terrier had whipped asked the owner of the terrier how it happened that the terrier whipped every dog he encountered. That, said the owner of the terrier, is no mystery to me. Your dog and other dogs get half through a fight before they are ready. Now, my dog is always mad.”
Contemporary leaders often worry about how to keep a fire lit under their employees. The best way to do so is to set specific, short-term goals that can be focused on with intensity and immediacy by employees. And then coach them to be relentlessly results-oriented.
3. Reinforce Followership [6]
The third suggestion for coaching employees is to reinforce followership. That is because there are very few who will someday command thousands of troops in battle or direct the operations of a large organization. And yet, most of us spend most of our life being a follower. Thus, how does one become a good follower?
Borrowing from Meilinger’s work on the “Ten Rules of Good Followership”, let me provide you with several suggestions on how to “coach” your employees to be better followers. Be forewarned: “We need to practice what we preach.”
o Teach them to not blame their boss for an unpopular decision or policy. Their job is to support, not undermine. Leadership is not a commodity to be bought at the price of followership. If an employee asks you whether or not you agree with a particular decision of your boss, your response should be that it is an irrelevant question. The boss has decided, and we will now carry out her orders. That’s what good followers are expected to do. Loyalty must travel both up and down the chain of command.
o Teach them to make the decision -- then run it past you. Encourage them to show initiative. No one likes to work for a micromanager. We all believe we are smart enough and mature enough to get the job done without someone hovering around and providing detailed guidance. One reason bosses tend to become micromanagers is because they see their subordinates standing by and waiting for specific instructions. They then feel obliged to provide it. You can short-circuit this debilitating spiral by simply encouraging initiative. Allow them to accomplish the task and then (and only then) expect a briefing on what was done.
o Teach them to do their homework. Teach them to give you all the information needed to make a decision. They need to understand that when their supervisor gives them a problem to solve, it is essential that they become an expert on the subject before they attempt to propose a course of action.
o Teach them to keep you informed of what’s going on in your department. People are naturally reluctant to tell you about their problems and successes. Creating an open environment of sharing will enable a larger amount of information to float upwards. It also enables you to recognize those employees that are making a real difference.
o Teach them that if they see a problem, fix it. They need to understand that it doesn’t matter who gets the blame or who gets the praise. General George C. Marshall, the Army chief of staff during World War II, once made the comment that there was no limit to the amount of good that people could accomplish, as long as they didn’t care who received the credit.
4. Empower Employees [2]
Fourth, empower your employees to achieve the objectives of the organization, department, and team. People generally want to believe that what they’re doing truly makes a difference and, more important, that it is their own idea. Thus, good leaders learn the value of making requests as opposed to issuing orders.
Leadership, by definition, omits the use of coercive power. When a leader begins to coerce his followers, he’s essentially abandoning leadership and embracing dictatorship. Dictatorship, force, coercion – all are characteristics of tyrants, despots, and oppressors. Competent leadership, on the other hand, delegates responsibility and authority, and empowers subordinates to act on their own. It attempts to gain commitment through openness, empowerment, and coaching.
Teddy Roosevelt grasped this fact very clearly when he wrote: “The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” [7]
5. Encourage Innovation [2]
Fifth, encourage employees to be innovative. One of Lincoln’s favorite stories was designed to encourage people to innovate, to take action on their own initiative, without waiting for orders:
“There was a colonel, who when raising his regiment in MO, proposed to his men that he should do all the swearing for the regiment. They assented. For months, the regiment followed the rules. The colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and tongue. John happened to be driving a mule team through a series of mud holes a little worse then usual, when he burst forth into a volley of profanity. The colonel took notice of the offense and brought John to account. ‘John’, said he, ‘didn’t you promise to let me do all the swearing for the regiment?’ ‘Yes, I did, Colonel,’ he replied, ‘but the fact was the swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you weren’t there to do it.’”
Genuine leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln, are not only instruments of change, they are catalysts for change. Lincoln effected the change needed by creating an atmosphere of entrepreneurship that fostered innovative techniques.
How did he do this?
o First, he allowed for mistakes. Lincoln viewed the failures of his generals as mistakes, learning events, or steps in the right direction.
o Second, Lincoln essentially treated his subordinates as equals. They were colleagues in a joint effort. He had enough confidence in himself that he was not threatened by skillful generals or able cabinet officials. Rather than surround himself with “yes” men, he associated with people who really knew their business, people from whom he could learn something, whether they were antagonistic or not. An often overlooked component of leadership is this ability to learn from people and experiences, from successes and failures. The best leaders never stop learning.
o Third, he refused to resign himself to the limits imposed on him by flawed systems rather than rethinking those systems. As a result, innovations such as hot air reconnaissance balloons, pontoon bridges, ironclad ships, and breech-loading rifles were introduced during his administration.
Rather than inhibiting progress or sapping energy, innovative thinking actually increases an organization’s chances of survival. Lincoln realized that, as an executive leader, it was his chief responsibility to create the climate of risk-free entrepreneurship necessary to foster effective innovation. We need to do likewise.
Endnotes
[1] Adapted from “A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology” by Bob Lewis
[2] Adapted from “Lincoln on Leadership” by Donald T. Phillips
[3] Adapted from “It’s Your Ship” by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
[4] Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, Page 5-6
[5] Adapted from “The Mark of a Leader” by Doug Keeley
[6] Adapted from “The Ten Rules of Good Followership” by Colonel Phillip S. Meilinger
[7] Adapted from “Leadership Gold” by John Maxwell
When you’re hiring employees, don’t settle. The second inviolable principle is: “never stop coaching your employees.” While there are many things you can “coach” your employees to do, what aspects of coaching do you focus on? Let me provide you with five suggestions.
1. Cast a Shared Vision & Continually Reaffirm It
First, cast a shared vision and continually reaffirm it.
Churchill [5]
In 1940, the then disgraced Sir Neville Chamberlain stepped aside and Winston Churchill was made Prime Minister of Britain without an election. Like so many great leaders, he inherited a problem that his predecessor had allowed to fester and grow. Churchill knew that Britain would be the last major defensive post in Western Europe that could stand up to Hitler’s attack. If England fell, the whole face of the earth would change. He knew that the weight of the free world was on his shoulders, and that he must rally his countrymen around a “shared vision” to hold back the German attack and ultimately lead them to victory.
Using his skills as a linguist and orator, and his burning passion for England and for the cause of freedom, he focused on rallying his country’s pride. This can be seen clearly as the clash that became known as “The Battle of Britain” (in the summer and autumn of 1940) approached. In a speech to the nation, Churchill put the stakes of victory on the line for his countrymen very clearly:
“I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us…Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands…But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the light of perverted science…Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: ‘This was their finest hour.’”
Across the country, glued to their radios, the people of England instantly understood the job ahead, the stakes, the style of the enemy, and the outcomes of failure or victory. There was no doubt about exactly what had to be done, no debate about whether it would happen.
Lincoln [2]
Likewise, it’s well known and documented that during the Civil War Abraham Lincoln -- through his speeches, writings, and conversations -- “preached a vision” of America that has never been equaled in the course of American history. Lincoln provided exactly what the country needed at that precise moment in time -- a clear, concise statement of the direction of the nation and justification for the Union’s drastic action in forcing civil war. Everywhere he went, at every conceivable opportunity, he reaffirmed, reasserted, and reminded everyone of the basic principles upon which the nation was founded. His vision was simple, and he preached it often.
We can learn much from these two leaders. We can learn that effective visions and organizational mission statements can’t be forced upon our employees. Rather, they must be set in motion by means of persuasion. Our employees must accept and implement them wholeheartedly and without reservation. When this is achieved, truly accepted visions tend to foster innovation, risk-taking, empowerment, and delegation. If our employees understand what is expected of them, what the organization is trying to accomplish, then it becomes possible to create a climate in which results and progress continually occur. When coaching your employees, cast a shared vision and continually reaffirm it.
2. Set Goals and be Relentlessly Results-Oriented [2]
Second, set goals and be relentlessly results-oriented. Goals unify people, motivate them, focus their talent and energy. As just stated, Lincoln united his followers with the “corporate mission” of preserving the union and abolishing slavery, and this objective became more firm and resolute with the onslaught of the Civil War.
Even so, Lincoln realized that the attainment of such a successful outcome had to be accomplished in steps. So he continually set specific short-term goals that his generals and cabinet members could focus on with intent and immediacy. And he created a contagious enthusiasm among followers by demonstrating a sense of urgency toward attainment of his goals. He wanted them all to be like the dog in one of his favorite anecdotes:
“A man…had a small bull-terrier that could whip all the dogs of the neighborhood. The owner of a large dog which the terrier had whipped asked the owner of the terrier how it happened that the terrier whipped every dog he encountered. That, said the owner of the terrier, is no mystery to me. Your dog and other dogs get half through a fight before they are ready. Now, my dog is always mad.”
Contemporary leaders often worry about how to keep a fire lit under their employees. The best way to do so is to set specific, short-term goals that can be focused on with intensity and immediacy by employees. And then coach them to be relentlessly results-oriented.
3. Reinforce Followership [6]
The third suggestion for coaching employees is to reinforce followership. That is because there are very few who will someday command thousands of troops in battle or direct the operations of a large organization. And yet, most of us spend most of our life being a follower. Thus, how does one become a good follower?
Borrowing from Meilinger’s work on the “Ten Rules of Good Followership”, let me provide you with several suggestions on how to “coach” your employees to be better followers. Be forewarned: “We need to practice what we preach.”
o Teach them to not blame their boss for an unpopular decision or policy. Their job is to support, not undermine. Leadership is not a commodity to be bought at the price of followership. If an employee asks you whether or not you agree with a particular decision of your boss, your response should be that it is an irrelevant question. The boss has decided, and we will now carry out her orders. That’s what good followers are expected to do. Loyalty must travel both up and down the chain of command.
o Teach them to make the decision -- then run it past you. Encourage them to show initiative. No one likes to work for a micromanager. We all believe we are smart enough and mature enough to get the job done without someone hovering around and providing detailed guidance. One reason bosses tend to become micromanagers is because they see their subordinates standing by and waiting for specific instructions. They then feel obliged to provide it. You can short-circuit this debilitating spiral by simply encouraging initiative. Allow them to accomplish the task and then (and only then) expect a briefing on what was done.
o Teach them to do their homework. Teach them to give you all the information needed to make a decision. They need to understand that when their supervisor gives them a problem to solve, it is essential that they become an expert on the subject before they attempt to propose a course of action.
o Teach them to keep you informed of what’s going on in your department. People are naturally reluctant to tell you about their problems and successes. Creating an open environment of sharing will enable a larger amount of information to float upwards. It also enables you to recognize those employees that are making a real difference.
o Teach them that if they see a problem, fix it. They need to understand that it doesn’t matter who gets the blame or who gets the praise. General George C. Marshall, the Army chief of staff during World War II, once made the comment that there was no limit to the amount of good that people could accomplish, as long as they didn’t care who received the credit.
4. Empower Employees [2]
Fourth, empower your employees to achieve the objectives of the organization, department, and team. People generally want to believe that what they’re doing truly makes a difference and, more important, that it is their own idea. Thus, good leaders learn the value of making requests as opposed to issuing orders.
Leadership, by definition, omits the use of coercive power. When a leader begins to coerce his followers, he’s essentially abandoning leadership and embracing dictatorship. Dictatorship, force, coercion – all are characteristics of tyrants, despots, and oppressors. Competent leadership, on the other hand, delegates responsibility and authority, and empowers subordinates to act on their own. It attempts to gain commitment through openness, empowerment, and coaching.
Teddy Roosevelt grasped this fact very clearly when he wrote: “The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” [7]
5. Encourage Innovation [2]
Fifth, encourage employees to be innovative. One of Lincoln’s favorite stories was designed to encourage people to innovate, to take action on their own initiative, without waiting for orders:
“There was a colonel, who when raising his regiment in MO, proposed to his men that he should do all the swearing for the regiment. They assented. For months, the regiment followed the rules. The colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and tongue. John happened to be driving a mule team through a series of mud holes a little worse then usual, when he burst forth into a volley of profanity. The colonel took notice of the offense and brought John to account. ‘John’, said he, ‘didn’t you promise to let me do all the swearing for the regiment?’ ‘Yes, I did, Colonel,’ he replied, ‘but the fact was the swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you weren’t there to do it.’”
Genuine leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln, are not only instruments of change, they are catalysts for change. Lincoln effected the change needed by creating an atmosphere of entrepreneurship that fostered innovative techniques.
How did he do this?
o First, he allowed for mistakes. Lincoln viewed the failures of his generals as mistakes, learning events, or steps in the right direction.
o Second, Lincoln essentially treated his subordinates as equals. They were colleagues in a joint effort. He had enough confidence in himself that he was not threatened by skillful generals or able cabinet officials. Rather than surround himself with “yes” men, he associated with people who really knew their business, people from whom he could learn something, whether they were antagonistic or not. An often overlooked component of leadership is this ability to learn from people and experiences, from successes and failures. The best leaders never stop learning.
o Third, he refused to resign himself to the limits imposed on him by flawed systems rather than rethinking those systems. As a result, innovations such as hot air reconnaissance balloons, pontoon bridges, ironclad ships, and breech-loading rifles were introduced during his administration.
Rather than inhibiting progress or sapping energy, innovative thinking actually increases an organization’s chances of survival. Lincoln realized that, as an executive leader, it was his chief responsibility to create the climate of risk-free entrepreneurship necessary to foster effective innovation. We need to do likewise.
Endnotes
[1] Adapted from “A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology” by Bob Lewis
[2] Adapted from “Lincoln on Leadership” by Donald T. Phillips
[3] Adapted from “It’s Your Ship” by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
[4] Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, Page 5-6
[5] Adapted from “The Mark of a Leader” by Doug Keeley
[6] Adapted from “The Ten Rules of Good Followership” by Colonel Phillip S. Meilinger
[7] Adapted from “Leadership Gold” by John Maxwell
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