Getting Results Without Pissing People Off

I was raised to be a nice guy. When I was lucky enough to lead a large organization early in my career I learned the hard way that I needed to toughen up, for the people I hired did not always get their assignments completed when they said they would.?As the title of this blog says, I did get results, but it was at a cost. The morale in my global organization looked like a roller coaster.

As a leader and a management consultant, I learned there is no single way to solve a problem. Each problem fits into a context of the circumstances and people surrounding it. When any leader operates with a strong result-orientation, she/he must also be very supportive. If that leader is not supportive, they run the risk of breaking the bonds of trust and respect essential for today’s high-performing organizations.?

In helping clients set goals with others, I always advise them to balance enforcement with compassion. If one is making a complex request sent by email, it’s a good idea to personally touch base with that person or the entire team to make sure your message “landed” the way you intended. Often, first time managers believe their title confers upon the responsibility to tell people what to do and if they made a request, people will just do it without question. This is simply not reality.

I have some tips that you can put into action to help.

First, speak about your own tendency to not follow through on all of your own commitments and what you are doing to be more mindful. Tell your colleagues about simple reminders like Post-Its on your computer screen or audible reminders you set for a day or two days ahead of when you agreed to deliver your assignment. That way, you will have time to finish the task on time.?Explain that being responsible also means that if you cannot make a commitment, tell others in advance and agree on a new date to fulfill your responsiblity.

Follow up with these individuals weekly for a month. Then, hand your role over to someone of their choosing to help sustain their new habit of 100% follow-through on keeping their commitments.

For teams?create sub-groups of 2 or 3 “commitment buddies” to support each other keeping the team’s promises. Instruct the team to create training materials for new team members so they will learn to support 100% commitments kept.?

Encourage others in your organization to adopt these basic behaviors. With determination and time, you can become the spark that lights a flame in your organization’s culture. Getting results with people feeling proud instead of being pissed off will become the new normal. Stress will also be reduced because individuals will be more responsible and accountable for their own promises with less control being exerted by others.?

Please contact me for complimentary confidential conversations to see how I may be of service to you or your organization.

Tom Drucker MA, Psychology, ABD, Business is a founding partner of Consultants in Corporate Innovation, transforming leaders and teams plus improving processes in companies big and small. Learn more about him at corporate-innovation.com.