Leading From Behind - Team Based Management !

“Leading from behind" is a management style born from the genesis of team-based, learning organizations. The ship’s captain is the last one off the ship when problems abound, the shepherd is behind the flock guiding them, and the generals are not the ones on the front lines.  In former South African President Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, he references the shepherd and his flock. In his story he relates, “a shepherd walks behind his flock, making sure they all stay together and keeps them moving in the right direction”.

The pyramid as we baby boomers knew it – management on top and associates on the bottom - flipped in the mid-1990s. As the philosophy of “team based environment” grew, so did the understanding that the original bottom of the pyramid, the workers, were actually the ones who generated the dollars. The logic is simple and is in response to this business analogy – “If management did not come into work today, would the organization still run?” respond.  “If the associates did not come into work today, would the place still run?  respond.

The new pyramid reflects the value of the associates in the organization (they are, after all, our greatest assets). Our responsibility is to ensure we provide our management and associate staffs the tools they need to perform their job responsibilities.  Building excellence into every aspect of the company by focusing on creating a workplace that encourages EVERYONE to contribute is the primary component of World Class Environments.  Coaching and team building are the fundamentals of the lead-from-behind philosophy. 

Coaching High Performance Work Teams

Coaching is defined as education, lessons, instruction, training, or schooling.  Coaches instill fundamentals. Coaches build teamwork (“we are only as strong as our weakest link”). Coaches evaluate and adjust (H we are not all alike). Coaches reinforce and motivate. Coaches help every team member see how each of them is important to the team’s success. Coaches help find out which specific skills the organization values, and why (micro-education eliminates micro-managing). Coaches encourage staffs to take risks by building a supportive environment that lets them learn from failures (“experience is the fruit from the tree of errors”). Managers who see themselves as coaches tend to see their employees as individuals of innate talent and worth.

 

Today’s success in any organization large or small is its people. Empowering employees to make their own decisions based on sound educational judgment is imperative for survival (“give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man HOW to fish and you feed him for life”). Top-level managers recognize a team-based environment is a benefit (the key) to their organization and their bottom line cost savings.  Once you’ve coached your team and taught them the skills to achieve, get out of the way and lead from behind.

"do you want this one or this one?" (Decision-making)

(part of the Total Quality Leadership Skills series)

How an organization achieves world class quality excellence depends on its leaders within the organization, at all levels of the organization.  Whether your organization has just started its quality journey with ISO certification or are ready to apply for the world renowned Deming award, the critical success factor to world class quality excellence…it’s all in the leadership!

It is my (proven) belief that the leadership skills that make an environment successful are the same skills that we learned when we were little and playing in the sandbox.  The sandbox skill I want to talk about today is decision making.

                      

                    

“Which of the two sets do you want?” The choice might be based on a favorite color. The choice might be to pick the orange shovel from one set but the red pail from the other.  As a child, decisions are limited. “Which clothes do want to wear?” “Which toys do you want to take?” “Which sandwich do you feel like eating?” Parents are there to make sure children make the right decisions.  They may have a firm “no” in response or they may try and cajole the child into picking something else. Parent’s responsibility is to tell them the end result of their decisions. Unless the choice is detrimental to the child, letting them make up their own minds is fun for them. It makes them feel grown-up and teaches them life-long learning skills. They face few consequences because parents are their safeguards.

The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose.

As adults, decision-making carries the weight of making the RIGHT choice. Following are the decision-making steps needed to make the right choice:

(1.) Start the decision-making by identifying your wants and needs;

(2.) Rank each;

(3) Gather all the information necessary to make a decision. Explore alternatives, consequences, advantages, and disadvantages. Be objective, not emotional:

(4) Establish how much of a risk you are willing to take. Then, consider these strategies

 (a) choose the safest alternative - the one that can’t fail,

 (b) select the one with the best odds for success,

 (c) pick the option with the most desirable outcome - despite the risk

(5) Eliminate any option that might present a loss you won’t be able to live with – despite high odds for its success; and finally,

(6) Picture how you would deal with negative consequences.

The following is an example of a decision-making process to answer the question:  when to get gas:

The act of choice is the high point of the decision-making process. The more we investigate up front, the better our choice The choice itself is the conclusion of the process.  Once made, decisions will trigger: (a) action, (b) movement, or (c) change. It’s wise to remember, adults do face the consequences of  their decisions and, most of the times, there are no safeguards.  (OMG, I ran out of gas!)