Integrity Matters Broadcasts
June 1, 2004
Attribute #6: PERFORMANCE:accountability throughout
the organization*
When individuals, including senior executives,
under-perform repeatedly, are they given due process
and then, if necessary, replaced?
*from Bracher Center's Eight Attributes for Building an
Integrity-Centered Company by James F. Bracher ©April
2, 2004; Integrity Matters, Bracher
and Halloran, pp. 32-33; Torchlight, 2004
Step 1: Have a plan when it’s time
to pass on your company
Dear Friends:
It is time for me to pass the senior management role of
my company to a high-potential colleague. She has
been with me for 20 years, doing a good job. I like
and trust her and have confidence that she will take the
new position seriously. Her integrity is not in question. Her
ability and her drive are way above average. However,
my concern is this: how can I minimize the risk of
either disruption to long-term business relationships or
loss of revenue when she takes over the firm?
Click here for the response
Step 2: Find ways to assess talent effectively
(internal and external)
Performance appraisals, reference checks and resume materials
can be instructive. However, there is no substitute
for a careful, personal and clear review of the observable
behaviors of the individual being considered. People
make mistakes. They forget to be the best they can
be all of the time. However, when considering expanding
authority for others, make sure that what you have seen
and felt – about the person – are what you
and your organization need, not simply what might work
if some of the individual’s flaws miraculously disappeared. Most
people don’t change much and habits (especially the
bad ones) almost never go away.
Before any final hiring or appointing decisions are made,
please consider this. Go to our website and find
our Succession article (a direct link is provided below). Print
the page, write the name of the individual on the page
and then underline or circle one of the descriptors
under each column all the way down the three columns that
reflect the behaviors of the candidate(s) that distinguish
between and among these three categories that differentiate leaders, managers and pretenders. By forcing the choice into one category only,
you will raise your own awareness of how the individual
tends to operate. My example shows an underline in
the Pretender definition column. The person I was
assessing too often finds reasons to justify not delivering
top performance. This is neither a management nor leadership
characteristic.
Leaders |
Managers |
Pretenders |
People Love Leaders. |
People Respect Managers. |
People Reject Pretenders. |
A
Leader Makes Mistakes. |
A
Manager Makes Adjustments. |
A
Pretender Makes Excuses. |
Click here to discover our listing of leadership comparison
characteristics
If you are considering someone for promotion to the top
spot (or a position with increased responsibilities) and
he or she does not currently exhibit a majority of the
behaviors listed under the Leaders category,
then you are putting your company and your finances at
higher risk than prudent advisors would suggest.
Step 3: Leverage the "Eight Attributes"© to
Assess Organizational Leadership
Employee loses confidence with boss, is
it time move on?
Dear Jim:
My current boss asked me to move from the East Coast to
the West Coast so that I could be mentored by him in order
to accelerate my career in our company. I was clear
that such a move was disruptive for me, financially and
personally. However, I accepted the opportunity with
the commitment that my mentoring would be personally conducted
by the same hiring executive with whom I had wanted to
work. After only a few weeks into the new and exciting
position, my mentor broke his promise. The “boss” has
decided to relocate to Asia, asking
me to move yet again. He knows my fiancée and I
agreed to a 3000 mile separation for a year or even 18
months, but half way around the world was and is out of
the question. It is now obvious that he knew before
my move West that his own location change was “in
the works” even when I directly asked the question
about the longer-term commitment to our “mentoring” relationship,
specifically, on the West Coast.
What does this say about integrity?
Sign
me as dislocated, abandoned and frustrated. So,
now, what do I do?
Click here for the response
Our July Broadcast will address Attribute # 7: Charity: generous
community stewardship.
Remember: each of us is expanding the integrity
conversation - in what we say and how we live.
Thank you again, for helping to constructively communicate
that, yes, it is true: Integrity Matters.
Sincerely,
Jim
