Is It Your Job to Fight Fires? Part 1

by George McQuain

Leaders who encounter problems often go through the same emotional stages as dying people: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance.  This process, in my experience, often gets stuck in the first four stages because; as George R. R. Martin has said “Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.” As a result, most leaders wait way too long to take tough decisions and manage a project, process or team situation until “fires” are actively burning and everyone is forced to frantically “fight fires” rather than focus on helping the company grow and be more successful.   

As I have often told my teammates, “Bad news is not a good cheese or a fine wine…it does NOT improve with age.” Leaders who recognize and acknowledge the signs of trouble and act (which may mean getting outside help) early have a much better chance of eliminating problems before they occur and achieving consistently great results.

The key, obviously, is early identification and correction of problems. Unfortunately, most managers rely on measuring “results” and do not measure the things that produce those results. This means that they don’t act until the final result is measured and then it is too late to change the outcome.

No matter what the process, it is important to identify the key input variables that drive the results you want to achieve. For example, if I ran a restaurant and I wanted to produce great French Fries, it would be unwise to do nothing more than count the good vs. the bad French Fries at the end of each batch.

Instead, I would:

1.     Buy great potatoes and cooking oil

2.     Know the exact temperature that the cooking oil would need to be in the deep fryer

3.     Know the exact time the fries would need to be in the deep fryer to produce great fries

4.     Measure and manage those key input variables to make sure they are at levels that will result in great Fries.

I would do all these things because I know that if I do them, I will cook great French Fries every time.

Now, here are the key questions you need to ask and answer:

1.     What are the results my team and I are trying to achieve?

2.     What key inputs will lead to those results?

3.     What do the values of those key inputs need to be to achieve our target results?

4.     How can we measure those key inputs?

5.     What actions need to be taken when our key inputs are not on target?

After you and your team have answered these questions, put the measurement systems in place to catch and eliminate issues before they become major problems. Use this approach to transition from denying problems and fighting fires to eliminating the root causes of problems.

My next entry will discuss some techniques to use to identify key inputs.

Be Thankful

by George McQuain

When our children were growing up I often helped coach their sports teams. At one Little League game I was coaching third base and I was thirsty. In between batters, I called to my wife, Joanne, and asked her if she could get me a drink from the snack bar. Being the kind woman that she is, Joanne graciously brought me a drink.

What makes this story memorable, is that when Joanne returned to the stands, the other team mothers were amazed (and told her so) that I had said “please” and “thank you” during this interaction. Apparently, the other women in the stands were not used to people saying “please” and “thank you” to them.

I have found that saying “please” and “thank you” is a very important thing to do as a person and as a leader. Saying “please” and “thank you” are obviously critical features of etiquette and proper manners, but there is more to it.

From a very young age, most of us are “trained” to look for problems, to focus on what needs to be fixed and to fix those problems. Unfortunately, always focusing on what is “wrong” will eliminate problems, but it won’t necessarily lead to people doing the “right” things. Focusing 100% on “problems” also makes it extremely difficult to positively motivate your team.

As a leader, we must eliminate the “wrong” things, but we must also make sure the “right” things get done. Teacher and writer Ben-Shahar suggests reframing problems into an opportunity to ask the right questions. Instead of analyzing the wrongs, understand successes and work to replicate those successes.

That is why I often ask these two questions:

1.     What should we stop doing or do less of?
2.     What should we start doing or do more of?

That is also why I say “Thank You” as often as I can.  As Ben-Shahar also says, "Appreciate the good, and the good appreciates." I have found that to be true to the max.

Say thank you to the people in your life. You didn’t get to where you are on your own. Your daily successes are built upon the efforts of others. Why not pick 25 people you know and tell them “Thank You.” Be specific:

1.     Tell them specifically what they did
2.     Tell them specifically what their action meant to you or your team
3.     Thank them for doing what they did

I encourage you to repeat this process as often as possible. You’ll be amazed at how your team will react.

Be Tough-Minded on the Issues without Being Brutal With People

Unfortunately, many Executives I’ve met during my career tend to think that you can’t be tough-minded on issues without being brutal towards the people on their team. I have found that counterproductive.

Don’t get me wrong, times are tough and they call for tough-minded leaders. Leaders who want to win and are willing to do what it takes to win with a sense of urgency and who are willing to lead their teams towards greatness.

Here are some ideas that have worked for me in doing this:

1.     You must demonstrate that you care about your employee’s agenda’s before you can expect that they will care about the company’s agenda.

2.     Constantly interact with your team. Ask these two questions often: “What can we do better?” and “How can I help?”

3.     Implement some of the things that you hear in your team interactions. Use these to create team “wins” that can be built upon to create bigger “wins”.

4.     Set high standards. Challenge your team to greatness, create a connection with them and push them to achieve extraordinary results.

5.     Don’t accept people as they are. See your co-workers’ potential and care enough to push them past self-imposed limitations to realize that potential.

6.     Think “we” and not “me”.

As I discussed in my last blog entry, use unplanned “interruptions” and your “management by walking around” as an opportunity to offer help and move the business forward by pushing your team to ever greater accomplishments. Use these six ideas to be tough on the issues while not being tough on your people. If you had these types of interactions with your teammates two or three times a day that would mean 500 to 750 times per year of you extending your influence throughout your team. I can’t imagine that not having a large positive influence towards winning and team greatness.

A Real Person Can Accomplish Great Things

My first “real” leadership role was a turnaround situation at a 100 person, $5 million revenue operation that had the worst profits, employee morale, client satisfaction and quality rates in the company. I still remember meeting with the staff and working with them to craft a plan to fix the situation. A few weeks into the assignment, one of the operation’s employees asked me if I would consider becoming the site’s permanent manager saying “you’re the first manager I’ve ever had in my 20+ year career who’s talked to me like I’m a real person.”

I almost wept when I heard her say that, but, sad to say, in the 20+ years since then, I have met many, many people who have said the same thing. While many managers will say that if you treat your front-line people right then they will treat your customers right, I’ve found that treating people “right” is the exception, not the rule.

There are many ways you can overcome this in the team you lead. Some of them are:

1. Get to know the people on your team as people, what they care about, what they’re passionate about;

2. Walk around your workplace, ask questions, talk to people, listen to their ideas, share your ideas;

3. Don’t view “drop-ins” by teammates as an interruption to your day;

4. View all of these steps as an opportunity to learn what needs to happen and to move the business forward, view them as latent leadership moments.

In my experience, people will go to extraordinary lengths to accomplish things for a team whose leader exhibits these behaviors.

What happened at that first “real” leadership role I mentioned earlier? Together, we fixed the operation and made it one of the best in the company.