The mark of a professional organization

What makes an organizational "professional?"

Is it proper branding? Is it quality facilities and a lot of money? Is it a clear mission and vision statement?

I suppose there are many ways that one can define "professionalism," but there has been one definition I chanced upon early in my career that has been a core tenet in my approach to organizational leadership ever since.

Once upon a time, I was a young maintenance officer in the military. In that capacity, I was responsible for the personnel and equipment needed to keep U.S. Air Force aircraft flying. Given the amount of money that goes into the equipment, the depth of training for aircrew, and the importance of the mission sets, we had incredibly high standards for the quality of the products that we were maintaining.

Every week, we had "quality assurance" meetings where maintenance officers like me would sit down and look at statistics of how well our troops were doing in maintaining the aircraft. There, the big bosses would go over the relevant statistics: how many non-mission capable aircraft; how many failed inspections; how many repeat/recurring issues; etc. They would assess whether we were meeting standards, falling below standards, or--in what seemed like unachievably rare cases--exceeding all expectations.

At one of my old units, there was a leader who chaired that meeting who was particularly invested in those meetings. He was tough but fair and would challenge us to take a hard look at our performances. He would end the meeting by saying this:

The mark of a professional organization is that it is self-critiquing and self-correcting.

Without fail, the next one of those meetings would end with, "The mark of a professional organization is that it is self-critiquing and self-correcting." And the next, and the next.

As a young officer, I remember thinking to myself, "We've all heard this before. How many more times does he need to say that to us?" But now, with a few more years under my belt and a bit more sense in my head, I can recognize the wisdom of his approach. He said it over and over again because it was an important lesson to learn and one worth repeating. In doing so, he could guarantee that those who heard it never forgot it. And for those who never forgot it, it became a part of who we are and how we operate.

It was such an important lesson to learn, and after nearly two decades of government and military service, it is one that I recognize as capturing the most important trait of a professional organization.

Any organization that is not constantly looking at itself and exploring ways to improve is inherently falling behind. That is because life continues to move forward: circumstances evolve; technologies advance; people come and go. By self-critiquing, you are not scrutinizing your organization because you believe it is failing; rather, you are simply identifying what needs to adapt with the times, where your resources may be misallocated based on changing circumstances, or where you may have gaps based on personnel changes. Of course, you may also find problem areas that must be addressed because or deficient policies, processes, or personalities, but self-critique is not a witch hunt--it is simply consistent care and development. Any leader of an organization worth his or her salt invites critique and feedback.

For me, I've taken this mantra to heart and gone one step further. Whenever I get a new teammate onboard, I ask them to do things. First, I insist upon the following: "Don't assume we do everything for the best reason--we do it for a reason, but it may not be the best reason. If you see something that makes you wonder, 'Why do we do it this way', ask the question."

This leads to the second thing I say to new teammates: "Please recognize that you have an equal voice in the organization. Rank relates to decision-making authority, but your voice is as important as anybody else's in this organization whether you are the lowest ranking member of team or the highest." I ask them to use that voice in helping us grow and improve as an organization.

My teammates have taken this to heart, and they never cease to impress me with their investment in the organization and their ingenuity in finding ways to make the team better. They have brought their own perspectives to the way we do business, challenging out-of-date practices and finding ways to incorporate new approaches and technologies. In doing so, they have continued to demonstrate that a professional organization is indeed one that is self-critiquing and self-correcting.