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May 2021
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What should a manager do if the members of his/her team who produce the best results act like a law unto themselves?
A project typically makes something meaningfully different in the world – it creates a new or better building structure or program, for instance. If the people in your project team don’t feel this wider purpose, you are failing and you should look in the mirror.
I have met many managers who cling tightly to the belief that people need to be managed. One manager I worked with held so tightly to this belief that even when the rest of the organisation had implemented remote working policies he told his team that the new policy didn’t apply to them.
Most of us are naturally adept at deflecting responsibility, especially when things get tricky. This tendency blossoms when we’re very young. A child is often quick to explain how their shirt “got dirty” by itself – rather than how they wiped their peanut-butter-and-jelly-covered hands all over it.
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Question of the Month
By Josh Hayman, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.
Question: What should a manager do if the members of his/her team who produce the best results act like a law unto themselves??
Answer: When I have asked this question of managers, they have typically given me a list of reasons which fall into the categories of Willing (the leader lacks the courage or is conflict-averse or wants to be liked too much, or he doesn’t care enough and is prepared to tolerate less than the best especially if the results are good); Able (he lacks the knowledge/training to diagnose performance issues, or has not been taught how to have the “tough conversation”); and Allowed (the environment is not conducive to the leader doing so – there not enough time, he is too busy pursuing the result, he lacks the authority to discipline or reward, the procedures are too complex, or there is a lack of support up the line).
But a reason which is not given, and which I have observed over the years is actually the primary reason why managers do not hold their people accountable, is… Read the full answer by clicking here
WEBINAR REPORT: WHY PROJECT MANAGERS OFTEN FAIL TO LEAD
A project typically makes something meaningfully different in the world – it creates a new or better building structure or program, for instance. If the people in your project team don’t feel this wider purpose, you are failing and you should look in the mirror.
Organisations generally see projects as “one and done”. But all organisations also essentially want to deliver a better version of themselves and they can do this through projects. So it should be key, as part of projects, to deliver people who are excellent and improved in capability.
Of course if you are building a bridge you can’t just have happy/more capable people and no bridge. But shifting the focus from the outcome of the project to helping the people on the project deliver their best does not mean foregoing the outcome. You deliver both the project and the people when you focus on one of them – namely, enabling your people to give their best, stretching them and keeping them accountable for doing so. In other words, you serve the team first and not the result first.
Legitimate Leadership says that people become more willing and motivated when they trust their leaders more. As a leader, if you don’t spend time on building trust, then you will spend time on managing the fallout and damage from not having built trust.
The above were some of the insights offered by presenters in a webinar entitled Why Project Managers Often Fail to Lead, held by Legitimate Leadership on 7 May 2021. The webinar was moderated by Ian Munro and the presenters were Josh Hayman and Rachael Cowin, all of Legitimate Leadership. 60 people attended the webinar from a number of countries. The webinar expanded on an article by Josh, What Projects Really Need Are Better Project Leaders, Not Better Project Managers
VIEW THE VIDEO OF THE WEBINAR BY CLICKING HERE
ARTICLE: WHEN LEADING REMOTELY, SPEND LESS TIME MANAGING AND MORE TIME ENABLING
I have met many managers who cling tightly to the belief that people need to be managed. One manager I worked with held so tightly to this belief that even when the rest of the organisation had implemented remote working policies he told his team that the new policy didn’t apply to them. We had a couple of debates about his situation; specifically about my suggestion that maybe he should reconsider his view. I didn’t think I was making much headway, when suddenly in early 2020 the government stepped in and made it very clear that working-from-home policies applied to everyone in his company – his team included.
His position stemmed from two considerations, both of which missed the critical point that the only productivity you should ever be managing is your own productivity.
ARTICLE: WHY TRUE LEADERS NEVER BLAME OTHERS (OR CIRCUMSTANCES)
By John Rex, former CFO of Microsoft North America and now an executive coach, writing in Forbes Magazine.
COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY WENDY LAMBOURNE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Legitimate Leadership has a very practical and powerful tool that leaders can use to change in the first instance themselves, and thereafter their people, from what John Rex calls a “victim mindset” to a “responsible mindset”. This tool enables three shifts which together deliver a person who has regained his/her power irrespective of the circumstances prevailing.
1. A shift in ATTENTION forwards from past/present to future.
2. A shift in INTENTION from a concern about what one is getting/not getting to what one should and can give or contribute in the situation.
3. A shift in ACCOUNTABILITY from not taking accountability to taking accountability for the circumstances that the person is in.
For more information on using the Gripe to Goal tool, see the book Legitimate Leadership (2012), p216-231.
TEXT OF THE ARTICLE: When I was a kid, I’d often tag along with my dad while he was running errands. We lived in a small town with no big-box stores, so we’d typically end up in homey mom-and-pop shops with witty cartoons displayed behind their counters.
During one of these outings, while my dad was chatting with the shop owner, I noticed one particular cartoon that has stuck in my head over the years. It depicted some poor soul wading in a marsh, stalked by alligators. The caption read, “When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp!”
