We reward heroic effort. Every company has stories about individuals who worked tirelessly to overcome crushing opposition to bring a product in on time or introduce a new line, or appease the biggest client who was about to defect. Or, they tell of individuals who performed extreme acts to help the company, like the manager who hadn’t used any of his vacation time for 12 years. Or, the machine operator who ran the department alone during the entire 3rd shift. “Holy Batman!” But who are the real heroes? Are they the ones whose exploits we hear about when we first come to work at the company? Are they the idolized CEO’s who “saved” the company from bankruptcy? Maybe! But maybe they are the “grunts” who come to work every day and do the tedious, mind-numbing work that must be done. We have a tendency to applaud extreme acts. There are certainly times and places when extreme action is called for and those with the skills and courage to meet those challenges should certainly be given their due. Soldiers, fire-fighters, police officers, EMT’s who risk their lives to help others are, no doubt, legitimate heroes. But, there is something about hero worship that is not so desirable. There is, I believe, a sort of deep need to look outside of ourselves to find greatness. Few of us still idolize Tiger Woods or O.J. Simpson. LeBron James (wait and see)? Or, what about the idolization of “super heroes?”
Is it good or bad to worship Superman or Spiderman? (I’m sort of a Batman enthusiast. At least I don’t have to develop mystical superpowers to be Batman, just lots of money and technology). Some would argue that it is good to have someone to look up to; someone with the kinds of attributes that we should aspire to. Maybe! But there is also a danger in overemphasizing the extraordinary. It makes the ordinary (all of those things that must be done to make a team or a company successful) seem dull and uninteresting. Team members might conclude, “Why bother? No one appreciates all of this hard work. It’s only the superheroes who get the raises and promotions.” Or, “I will never have the kind of ability to do what she does so I might as well give up.” Or, “He’s not such a hero. He’s just the boss’ favorite. His accomplishments are blown out of proportion. It’s not fair.”
I was listening to a group discuss how to be successful in business. One participant was convinced that it was all about hiring the right people. He said, “I have a bunch of ‘pretty good’ people but I will never be successful unless I can get rid of them and hire some real stars.” I was thinking, “There are a lot of us ‘pretty good’ people. Isn’t there a place for us?” If you fire all the ‘pretty good’ people and hire stars, are they still stars? They’re just like everyone else now. It sounds like the phrase from Prairie Home Companion. In Lake Woebegone, “…. all the children are above average.” Well, that just can’t be.
Several years ago in a successful circuit board factory, a lot of good things had happened. Productivity was up. Quality was up. Costs were down. Absenteeism was down. Grievances were down. In other departments within the company, some managers were praising the effort and trying to learn from it. Others, not so much! We started to hear things like, “They got all the best people. If they had to manage with the “losers” I have working for me, they would never be so successful.” In other words, “They got all the stars. The performance of my unit couldn’t possibly be my responsibility. The problems my unit is having couldn’t possibly be because of my poor leadership.” In fact, the people in the successful unit were no different, really, than those in any other unit. They were average, decent, capable workers who were in an environment that allowed and encouraged them to do their best. It has always been my experience that the best results come from making the most of the resources and people you have rather than putting too much emphasis on “finding the right people.” Certainly, there are times when you need certain skills and it is important to hire highly qualified people to fill those positions.
But, in general, you are better off looking at the system as a whole rather than relying on finding a “hero.” The time and effort on finding the perfect person may even distract managers from doing what they really need to be doing to produce a high performance unit. One of the most important steps taken in this factory was to conduct leadership training. The training took four days and included all of the critical communication skills: listening, non-destructive confrontation, win/win conflict resolution. All of the plant’s managers participated in the training. Following the training, they were coached, the meetings were facilitated, and key results were consistently measured. We didn’t fire the old managers and look for a hero. Even though these managers had a reputation for being “real average,” in a few months, their factory was producing better than any other factory in the company (a company of about 40,000 employees). A lot of people tried to turn them into heroes. Maybe they were. But, truly, they were just like anyone else. Average, hard working, intelligent people who were put into a situation where they could excel.
Heroes come into our lives and take charge. They save us. They do what we can’t (or won’t) do. If we’re not careful, they make us weak and dependent. We wait for the heroes rather than doing the hard things and making the hard decisions that each of us must do every single day. They disempower us. But maybe that’s the wrong way to think about heroes. Maybe, the real heroes are, indeed, those ordinary people who come to work every day and do the best they can even if they are not geniuses or super models or gifted athletes. When I think of heroes, I think of my dad who went to work on the railroad every day for 52 years. Or, my mom who made sure I had everything I needed to succeed in life. I think of my wife who drives over 40 miles (each way) to her job every day so I can stay home and write articles. I think of my daughter who despite her terror of speaking in front of people gets up and presents her architecture project to her college teachers and peers. I think of the athletic teams without stars who learn to really work as a team and cause “upsets.” I think of those supervisors and managers who come to leadership training with the hope that they can learn what they must to make their unit successful.
Leadership training can be an important part of making your business successful. If each member of the total system learns to do what’s needed, you won’t have to bet on a superhero coming to the rescue. The knowledge of how to make a system perform successfully is available. It is not a mystery. It involves a lot of hard work and persistence. Leadership is a skill that can be taught. Yet, too many still wait for the miracle-workers. Guess what? She or he is not coming. Get to work with the heroes you already have. Teach them to lead, listen, confront problem behaviors, resolve conflicts, solve problems and work in a team. Then, follow up. Coach them. Facilitate the process. Stick with it until you start to see real progress. This is not magic. So, when your financial planner asks about your plan for retirement, don’t say, “Hey! I just bought a lottery ticket.” Nothing wrong with buying the lottery ticket, but maybe putting a few bucks into a savings plan every month wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Just in case you didn’t pick the right numbers!