The small circuit board factory had made substantial gains in productivity. Quality was up. Defects were down. But, there were still many problems. The biggest issues included communication between managers and team members and conflict among team members, support groups (maintenance, engineering, human resources), and other teams. In other words, everyone was working harder and smarter but no one was getting along and everyone was worried that they would not be able to sustain the improvements that they had made. We made a decision to conduct some leadership training for all the managers, supervisors, group leaders and senior engineers. The leadership training heavily emphasized communication: effective listening, constructive confrontation, and win/win conflict resolution—it was the L.E.T., Leader Effectiveness Training, by Dr. Thomas Gordon.
While most of the plant supported the idea of conducting the training, there were a number of obstacles. It was a small plant (about 120 employees) and at the time, the training was four days long. How would they manage with all of the leadership off in a training workshop that lasted that long? After considerable back and forth, we came to an agreement about how to proceed. We would conduct the training in two two-day segments on consecutive Fridays and Saturdays. That would leave the plant “leaderless” for only two days (They were closed on Saturdays). We would “borrow” a manager from the parent facility for the two uncovered days so that there would be a legal authority on the premises at all times.
The managers were still worried that there would be some unanticipated crisis (Aren’t all crises unanticipated?) that would cause irreparable damage to the plant, the process, their reputations, etc. Team members reassured their managers that, “Everything would be fine,” a message that was met with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the leaders were encouraged that the team members showed so much confidence. On the other hand, they were anxious about leaving them completely on their own. It was a little like the first time you let your teenager drive the car alone.
Despite the anxiety and nervousness, we proceeded with the leadership training. On the first day there was a small emergency. There was a chlorine leak that needed immediate attention and the team needed the plant manager’s O.K. to proceed. So, there was a flurry of activity as we called a break and let everyone attend to the incident. No harm done! Everything turned out fine and we resumed the training. But, it was clear that the participants were now even more edgy than before. The following Monday, the managers met with the teams to discuss the incident and talk about what needed to happen during the next training session while they were offsite again. They talked about the schedule, deadlines, contingency plans, safety, possible obstacles and problems.
Together, they made a plan. The following Friday things went very smoothly. In fact, near the end of the day, we received a report that the plant had achieved the highest output ever. They broke a record. We celebrated. The next day (Saturday – the last day of the training), we talked about the event. While the managers were glad the plant performed so well, they were somewhat taken aback. “Are we such poor leaders that the factory operates better without us? Have we just been obstacles? Are we not needed at all?” It was a rich and useful discussion. We suggested to the managers, supervisors, and other participants that the event showed not what poor leaders they were but rather how effective their efforts at planning were. The time they spent making sure their people were informed about the business, ready for emergencies, knowledgeable about the business demands and so forth had paid off. The record-breaking output was, indeed, a function of good leadership.
From that point on, we focused on learning how to apply what we learned from that even to their every day leadership. What steps can we take to make our teams more independent and less needy? How, as leaders, can we prepare the team members to be more a part of the business and capable of handling challenges and emergencies without relying on us to step in every time something goes wrong? These are powerful questions. There are no easy answers but they often present opportunities to learn more productive ways to lead.
The ancient Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu says, “As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear, and the next the people hate. When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’”
So, how do you go about creating a workplace where the leaders and the team members feel confident that the work will get done without constant vigilance or carrots and sticks?
- Communicate the business needs. Don’t treat team members like children. Let them in on the administrative, financial, sales, and other aspects of the total business.
- Collaborate. At every opportunity, include team members in the planning of strategy, tactics and implementation of the organization’s mission.
- Teach skills. Don’t skimp. Make sure that every team member has the skills needed to make the organization successful. Team members should learn the same skills that the leaders have if they are to incrementally assume more and more responsibility.
- Follow up. Provide ongoing coaching for team members. Make sure that there is someone who can answer questions and help each team member put their new skills to work. The more successful they feel, the more gain for the organization.
- Acknowledge success. Don’t take credit for the team’s accomplishments. This may seem obvious but it is a lot easier than you think to get pulled into this trap.
- Accept feedback. Listen to what participants say about the organization, about their work, about you. Act on what you learn. Do what you say you are going to do.
- Listen, listen, listen. It is amazing what you will learn when you really listen to what people say. Don’t be in such a hurry to be the advice giver or the hero.
- Trust your team members. Don’t watch everything they do. Give them an opportunity to mess up. Let them work out the solutions on their own when possible.
- Take some risks. Try some new approaches, especially when suggested by team members. The gain in confidence and team member engagement often far outweighs any cost associated with a mistake.
It is, I admit, harder than it sounds to park your ego. But, the benefits can be great. We hear and read about great leaders but often the truly great ones are nearly invisible. It is humbling to learn that the same skills that are needed for effective leadership are, essentially, the same as those needed to develop any human relationship. The leaders of the circuit board factory helped the organization continue to achieve great successes, becoming the model for employee engagement and productivity across the whole company. Several years into the process, the plant became officially “self-managed.”
Even though this story was told time and again in subsequent leadership training workshops, few remember the managers who worked so hard to make that happen. The team members were applauded for their success and rightly so. Vanishing does not mean that you are not present or that you abdicate responsibility, or that you are not paying attention. Quite the opposite! This kind of leadership requires a lot of hard work and self-discipline. The benefits are mostly to the organization. The benefits to the leader are often the more subjective kind: feelings of accomplishment, pride in others, satisfaction of a job well done, and so on. It’s the kind of pride you feel when your child graduates from college or gets a terrific job. All of the sudden, you are less important. So, go to the leadership training workshop and learn how to vanish. Going, going, going…