You know that effective communications are a cornerstone of employee engagement. Yet in the midst of all the messaging about where your organization is headed, how you intend to get there, and what you expect of your employees, don’t overlook the most important question they want answered.

Why.

What they’re thinking is: “Why don’t we just keep doing what we’re doing?” “Why improve?” “Why change?” “Why this, why not something else?” “Why now?” “Why here?” “Why me?”

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Answering the why question provides meaning and purpose. It’s a portal into the thinking behind the what and the how. It brings them into the circle.

Yes, they absolutely need to know the what and the how. But the real connection happens when you answer why?

Your thoughts?

Michael

(This is the 2^nd in a series of blogs about John Race, mountain guide and co-owner of Northwest Mountain School, who recently led two of my nephews and me up Mt. Baker in Washington State.)

If the client’s goal is to summit a mountain, the guide often has to push him, even if the client doesn’t like it. Yet how hard should the guide push?

Assess: Know your people
Starting at the trailhead John begins to quickly evaluate his clients. There are three questions he wants answered: First, how capable are they in terms of fitness and skill. Second, are they aware of their capabilities? (John will often know their capabilities better than they will.) Third, how much discomfort are they willing to tolerate and for how long? Often, that will determine whether they can summit.

Monitor: Stay close to your people
John pays close attention to how his clients are performing over time. He wants to know who is struggling and why. He’ll ask them questions to track their physical and emotional states. He’s gauging if and when he should intervene, and to what extent.

Act: Push the right buttons at the right times
It’s the final push to the summit and it’s steep. The client doesn’t think he can go on. The fatigue and discomfort are simply too much. This is the moment of truth. John pauses and allows everyone to catch their breath. He then sets more immediate goals that the client is likely to buy into. “We can make it up to that ridge.” “You can go for another 20 minutes.” Many times, setting and achieving a series of smaller goals gets the client to the summit.

If he doesn’t push hard enough, the client may not achieve his goal despite having the capability. If he pushes too hard, the client may shut down or meltdown. This is when the assessing and monitoring pays off so John can make the best possible decision.

You’re a leader. Know your people, stay close to them, and be prepared to push them … hard. But not too hard.

Next week: Responsible Leadership: Beware of Goals

Your thoughts?

Michael

Leadership entails responsibility. Some leadership roles more than others.

I recently took two of my nephews on their first mountaineering trip. I hired a guide for our climb up Mt. Baker because I wanted them to learn the skills and practices of safe climbing in a potentially dangerous environment.

John Race, internationally certified guide and co-owner of Northwest Mountain School, was more than up to the task. Over the next few weeks I’ll share some of the insights gleaned from John about leadership as a mountain guide. This week, the starting point: Trust as the foundation for responsible leadership.

Trust Trumps Obedience

On the mountain, the guide is ultimately in charge. That’s how it should be in a hazardous environment. Yet John finds that effective leadership is based more on building trust than demanding obedience. He wants his clients to trust that he is looking after their best interests and that he will help them achieve their goals.

So how does he build trust? 1) By communicating the why behind his decisions, not just the what. He wants them to understand his thinking and he wants to develop their thinking. 2) By soliciting their suggestions and being open to them. Which conveys a sense of respect and partnership. 3) By remaining firm on those things he feels are essential to safety and to achieving their goals. He wants them to know that he won’t compromise his responsibility to their safety and success.

Responsible leadership starts with relationship. And relationship starts with trust.

Next week: Responsible Leadership: How Hard to Push Your People

Your thoughts?

Michael

Cameron McCormick is the only coach Jordan Spieth has ever had. Spieth, of course, is the hottest golfer on the planet having won the last two major tournaments: the Masters and the U.S. Open. (And he’s still just 21.)

When McCormick decided to become a coach he wrote to 75 top golf coaches asking to meet with them. Twenty-five replied. What he learned might surprise you.

While you might think being a golf coach is all about understanding swing mechanics and reading course layouts and conditions, there’s a lot more. What McCormick learned is how important the coach-player relationship is, and how having a deep understanding of an athlete’s motivation and psychology is essential to developing them.

So ask yourself: How often do I, as a leader, focus on the technical side of performance while undervaluing the psychological side of performance?

If you want to develop your people so they fulfill their potential, focus on both.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Ever heard of Brian Grazer?

Neither had I. Yet this Hollywood producer – with movies such as Splash, Apollo 13, and A Beautiful Mind to his credit – gets the most from the directors, actors and behind-the-scenes people he works with through a management style that is as undervalued as it is effective.

He asks questions.

Asking questions creates engagement. Let’s say you have a movie that’s in trouble. You ask the executive responsible what her plan is. You’re doing two things just by asking the question: You’re making it clear that she should have a plan, and you’re making it clear that she is in charge of that plan. The question itself implies both the responsibility for the problem and the authority to come up with the solution. If you work with talented people who want to do the work they are doing, they’ll step up.

Curiosity at work isn’t a matter of style. It’s much more powerful than that. If you’re the boss and you manage by asking questions, you’re laying the foundation for the culture of your company. You’re letting people know that the boss is willing to listen.

Questions create the space for all kinds of ideas and the sparks to come up with those ideas. It’s about understanding how complicated the modern business world is. Most modern problems don’t have a right answer. They have all kinds of answers, many of them wonderful.

Engagement. Curiosity. Creating space and sparks. Isn’t that refreshing?

What questions should you be asking your people?

Your thoughts?

Michael

When even the military takes up the argument against rigid, command-and-control organizations, then you know the battle is won. And that is exactly what General Stanley McChrystal does in his book, “Team of Teams.”

McChrystal makes the case for adaptable rather than hierarchical organizations. Why? Because in complex, fast-changing environments, organizations that are quick to adapt are organizations that succeed. Adaptability isn’t optimized in the traditional top-down hierarchy where decisions come down from above. And it isn’t optimized in a command-of-teams hierarchy in which those same decisions flow down to teams. Instead, adaptability is optimized when there is a team of teams network that communicates closely and makes interactive decisions as the situation dictates.

To be clear, this requires clearly defined and distributed authority, strong capabilities at the team level, and a culture in which situational adaptability is encouraged.

How well does this describe your organization? How adaptable is your organization? And what is it costing you by not being more adaptable?

Your thoughts?

Michael