The Big Question Leaders Must Ask

The Big Question Leaders Must Ask

In most organizations people related expenses are still the largest expense category in the budget. This includes all people related expenses  –  hiring, onboarding, salaries, benefits, insurance, taxes, training, and everything else that relates to people.  It is a HUGE expense. And - technology is not going to eliminate the “people” expenses from your budget. It may reduce your overall team size, but there will always be people and the expenses related to them.  That leads us to a big question. No - not just a big question, a HUGE question.

When you bring people into your organization are you hiring doers of tasks

or are you developing drivers of growth?

How you answer this one question will determine how fast you can scale your organization, retain the workforce you have, and get everyone focused on growth.

Understand Context

The starting point is understanding context - where we are today. Context will tell you most everything you need to know to build the behaviors of growth in your team today.  

Here are the 5 more important realities of the era we live in today that you must understand and embrace to build a thriving organization:

1. The speed of change is accelerating, and it is not slowing down. It is the world we live in. Also, complaining doesn’t help you or anyone on your team. It actually slows growth rather than accelerating it.
2. The faster that things change, the less that you as a leader can physically control. The truth is you can’t control everything anymore. Every day, you put the power in the hands of your team to create success. That leads to the next reality that should make you very uncomfortable.
3. The more people you add to your organization the less likely they are to think like you think, see what you see, know what you know, believe what you believe, and want what you want. This is true regardless of how good your hiring process is. Everyone comes to your organization with their own life experience, skills, vision, and expectations. These will never fully align with yours when they start in your organization.
4. The good news is that most people are more capable than they demonstrate on a daily basis. Most people have the capability to think like you think, see what you see, believe what you believe, and want what you want, but it will not happen just because you hire them. That leads to the final reality.
5. There is always some assembly required. Building the organization you need in this era will not happen if you hire good people and expect them to figure things out on their own. Instead, they usually become “doers of tasks.” The only way to build the workforce you need today is to:

Meet them where they are & take them where you need them to be.

In the 80’s and 90’s organizational training was a big deal. It was the era of the “team model” and everyone was trained in how to work in teams and lead teams. Developing people to be successful in that environment was a big deal and it led to significantly higher performance. Around the turn of the millennium, though, the speed of change hit a tipping point, and it hasn’t slowed down.

The normal tendency as the speed of change accelerates is to pedal faster – do more of what you are currently doing, assuming it will get you where you want to go. The reality, though, is that it won’t. Using the same leadership and development models you have used for the past 5, 10, 15, or 20 years will not help you create the workforce you need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. There will always come a point when you can’t pedal fast enough. As a culture we hit the “can’t pedal fast enough point” around the year 2000. In the first two decades of the 21^st century, the tactical leadership and development models used by leaders shifted to “hire good people, give them information, and they will develop themselves.”  While that works for a few people, it doesn’t work for most people.

You’re Getting Exactly What You Create

In the past 20 years organizations began shifting away from developing people as a corporate responsibility and expecting people to development themselves. In most organization now it is the team member’s responsibility to develop themselves. The concept is, “You have the skills we need, now use them to solve the problems you face and help us drive growth.” Logically it sounds optimistic about people. Practically, it tends to create obedience rather than growth. If you are frustrated that the people in your organization are not really helping you drive growth, look in the mirror. If you expect people to develop themselves, you are getting exactly what you have created – Does of Tasks NOT Drivers of Growth.

When I ask most leaders this question, “Share with me the process you use to develop people in their role,” they have a blank look on their face. It’s like they don’t really know what I am talking about. There is a reason. Outside of the military, elite college athletic teams, and skill trades like electricians, few organizations have a systematic process to help the people on their team grow in their role. While we want everyone to grow in their roles, there is no plan, strategy, or method to do that throughout the organization.

That is a recipe for average not excellence. And we wonder why there is so much frustration, burnout, and turnover at work. If you want your people to help you drive growth it begins with a clear strategy to help everyone on your team grow in their role. When you develop the behaviors of growth in your team, they will help you drive organizational growth. It’s not rocket science or nuclear physics. It is simply good psychology. Develop people and they will develop your organization.