Hands, Head, and Heart

I have a soft spot in my heart for overly simplistic and sentimental sayings. Some of these sayings have a pretension to profundity—most are a little sappy.?

Years ago, I was at a conference of some sort, and a speaker talked about how to engage employees. The idea behind the presentation was that one could appeal to an employee’s hands, hearts, or hands. The idea being that managers were most likely to seek/demand the work of one's hands, and somewhat less likely to enlist the heart and the mind.

Let’s talk about hands. The idea that all that is important is for the employee to complete the task is not in the mind of only those who manage unskilled labor. It is in the senior manager’s mouth when he shouts and points a finger, “You find a way to get it done!” The command ignores whether or not the task is possible, advisable, or in the long-term interests of the?customer. There is a hilarious example of this thinking, called “The Expert,” on YouTube. As with most good comedy, what makes the sketch funny is that the premise is 100% realistic and played out so frequently in Corporate America.?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

The issue here is not a lack of commitment, motivation, or skills. It’s fair to expect diligence in solving the problem, particularly when it is our customer’s problem. It is foolish and, frankly, destructive to confuse an ill-considered solution with the problem to be solved. Shut up. Don’t think. And JUST GET IT DONE. This preference for the neanderthal management style is exactly why these managers don’t get the input they need from subordinates to make the best decisions. Think of the worst corporate decisions you have ever heard made. There were multiple people in the room who could have suggested better courses of action. But they didn’t. And guess whose fault that is.

In a US Naval vessel, there is a Captain (or ranking officer) and an Executive Officer (XO). The command of the vessel is in the Captain’s hands, and the final say is always his. It is the role of the XO to prevent the Captain with alternatives. The Captain considers the alternatives and issues his command. In the popular mind, the military would be one place where you might expect the commander to issue a “FIND A WAY TO GET IT DONE.” In this case, the practice of considering alternatives is institutionalized. The confusion of machismo with effectiveness is all about short-term gains at the expense of strategic interests and is a pernicious example of toxic masculinity in corporate culture (but not all practitioners are male).?

As managers, we need hands. We need hands to do what is expected and to the appropriate standards. We also need heads. Heads to determine if what we are asking our hands to do is the best, most efficient, and most productive way to achieve the goal. Leaders who are skilled at soliciting and encouraging a team to use its head to think critically will achieve great things. Managers who discourage critical thinking are on borrowed time. And just so we’re clear:?no amount of saying the “right words” will cover up the behavior that suppresses the team’s minds.

What does it look like when an employee’s heart is engaged? They work hard and hold themselves to a standard. They care about reaching success and they are bothered by failure. They can see past the interests of their own corporate silo and consider the overall interests of the enterprise. Yes, they want to come through for the boss and they want a good review—but the drive is internal. This is the classic case of “You get what you give.”?

I once saw a senior executive get up in front of his team and say, “We have conditional love for you. If you get the job done, we love you. If you don’t, we don’t. And we don’t give consideration to longevity.” (That’s a paraphrase, but really, really accurate). It is unquestionable that performance is critical, but this executive set up a purely transactional relationship between himself and his team. I wonder if he would be ok if his team treated the work as simply the opposite side of that transaction. He shouldn’t be.

And, as I say, you get what you give. You don’t get what you SAY, you get what you give. One of my favorite writers said, “In order to be, never try to seem.” Stephen Covey said, “You can’t talk your way out of a problem you’ve behaved yourself into.”?

Hands, heads, and hearts. It’s impossible to have an enduring successful enterprise without the team fully engaged. I have been very fortunate to have worked for a number of leaders who understood this principle and acted on it. Daily. I have seen colleagues who were fully invested—heart, head, and hands—in working for the group’s good. Some of the best people I have ever met have been colleagues, and I am indebted to them and hope I have learned something from them.

What’s the takeaway? “Who you are speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Don’t talk about people contributing—solicit contributions. Don’t talk about being a family—show caring in your manner and in your speech. Understand before you seek to be understood. You’re not successful at doing this until someone else says you are (when you’re not around).?

You get what you give.?