I was sitting at lunch.  I was having a bad week and was looking at my plastic plate piled high with chicken fingers and fries.  I love chicken fingers.  They are a great passion of mine.  I sat across the table from one of the managers in my firm.  I knew what lunch was going to be about-  he was going to complain about the company, about his place in the organization and decisions that he did not understand.

I could feel his negative energy creep into my psyche..  I was beginning to pile on.  I started to complain more and more.  It was a feeding frenzy and we were both pissed off by the time I had finished my strips.  It was now time to go back to work.

So there it is…  negative begets negative…  I guess we all know this.  But I am curious about why we were both negative.. We were both PASSIONATE about our frustration. What happened that allowed us to get to this point?

The funny part is that we spent considerable negative energy because of our positive passion for our company.   Both of us wanted our firm to be better.  We were proud of what had been built and what we had contributed. What was missing??

Could it have been vision?  I have come to the conclusion that many firms do not have a clear vision.  Vision:  A focus on overall goals and a road map we could all follow.  Without a clearly communicated purpose, a company is the same as a boat listing in the waves.

A Pirate’s Life for Me!

Think about an 18th century pirate ship.  Consider a ship that has a group of senior officers who have defined their goals.  The ship sails the seas with a clear purpose.  The Captain and his officers explain to their crew how each of them is critical in achieving specific goals for the journey.  The men on board understand how they contribute to the cause and what their ultimate payoff is when they reach their goal.  From the cook to the man in the crow’s nest, each person is playing a role.  There is a vision and a purpose for each person.

Now consider the boat that is not clear in purpose.  The captain tells his crew that they will sail… generally in “that direction”.  The crew is expected to perform their jobs to keep the boat and team in line each day.  From time to time, the boat may encounter a ship to plunder or an island to explore,  but there is no focused direction.  There is no plan to troll waters rich with the King’s ships.  Just to sail and to do what the captain says as soon as he says it.

At some point, the crew will begin to mutter… they will begin to question their need to wash the decks or get up early to man the lookout.  The crew will lose their passion to push ahead and at some point they will eat their chicken strips together venting frustration over the captain, officers and their decisions.  Passion for success turns into negative frustration.  Engagement is lost and a mutiny is at hand.

Mutiny! Vision is Core to Engagement

Line of Sight

It is crucial to provide line of sight for your team.  Line of sight is simple-  Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance?

How does a company or team keep an employee engaged through line of sight?  Here is the bottom line-  your team and your company need to focus on overall goals.  It is incredibly simple. Leadership includes setting goals.

Once a team has goals for the year or for the quarter, then each member should be presented a road-map of  how their daily tasks contribute to those goals.  I personally like having annual ‘Outlooks’ with employees.  These are very different than the ‘review’ structure that many companies use.

Outlooks

An Outlook should be done at least once a year. It is written and should be very simple in structure.  There should be a focus on the future rather than past accomplishments.  Outlooks take into account company and team goals and align those with employee desires, strong suits and goals.  Being able to focus on what makes each person great and providing a way to line that up with the team provides a strong path for everyone to succeed.

Once employees understand what the overall goals are and how they are being provided an opportunity to contribute to those achievements, engagement can begin.  Without a clear and focused vision, company goals will be difficult to define and Outlooks may not be effective.

Do you have a vision that is clearly communicated?  Is the vision of the company lined up with each employee’s greatest attributes and passions?

So there I was-  just putting the finishing touches on a new process masterpiece!  I had worked on it for weeks.  I had been given a directive to fix a problem with one of our processes.  (I could go into detail, but it does not matter as my story is really a conglomeration many different times when I have worked to develop a new product or process. )

I was debriefing my boss on the progress of the initiative.  She had no involvement in my planning up to this point despite the multiple emails I sent her detailing our progress.  I had asked for meetings about our status and she replied, “I trust you are getting it done.”  No Meeting….

It was time to begin execution of the process changes.  I began to walk her through the last steps.  We were 2 days out from executing my plan.  That is when I heard the ‘Seagull Call’.

In Ann Rowley’s book, Leadership Therapy: Inside the Mind of Microsoft, she discusses the Seagull Call.  Microsoft management referred to an event where Sr. management would come in at the last minute and swoop down over their project and crap all over it.  Much like a seagull at the beach.  Wow….  I love this analogy.

The call was loud and swift.  I had been pooped on.  My project was ripped apart at the last minute.  I managed to fight off most of the changes, but the damage was done.  I felt like a child and thought my work was lacking in some way.  My project was changed and did not have the impact I had intended it too.

This is a Great Idea.... For Me to POOP ON!

This was not the last time I would be pooped on.   It was not the only time I had been involved in a pooping, either.  I have been guilty of letting a project run too far without my guidance and then jumping in at the last minute to ‘fix’ it.  I have done this out of poor planning on my part and trusting a team member to read my mind.

As a leader, it is our job to provide guidance.  We should be setting goals and giving feedback to our team members regularly.  Our team will only grow if we allow them to execute all the way to the end.  When a project is changed, dumped or micro-managed at the last minute; there is a strong possibility it is the manager’s fault and not the employee’s fault.

When allowing an employee to develop a process, product or project, managers need to:

• Provide structured guidance and feedback along the way
• Set clear goals and desired outcomes
• Create boundaries from the jump
• Allow your employee to struggle-  difficulty is just as important as success
• Do NOT come by at the last minute to ‘fix’ the project

By setting your people up from the beginning for success, you eliminate the possibility of having to poop on their ideas at the last minute.