But I can’t fail – I’m the boss!

Well, actually you can.   Most of us who have been in leadership or management positions have failed at some point in our professional lives.  Here’s the good news.  If handled properly, failure isn’t all bad.  None of us likes to fail but it happens despite our best efforts and intentions.  We’re human and we make mistakes which lead to failure moments. What happens then? The real measure of success isn’t what you do when you’re on top.   Patton once said that “success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”   From our failures we can gain knowledge and experience.  We can then use both to address the issue more appropriately, increasing the likelihood that we’ll succeed.  Learning from failure is a good thing.  Repeating the failure moments with the hope of a different outcome is, according to some, the definition of insanity.

Failure to resolve the personnel issues that continue to plague your organization is aggravating and frustrating.  Recognizing the reasons for that failure and, more importantly, the limitations on your ability to resolve the issues is an important first step.  Consulting with a professional problem solver may be the  first step on the road to long lasting resolution and eventually success.  As we’ve discussed before, the professional problem solver has no other agenda than helping you and your organization find the real causes for the problems and reaching a resolution that actually addresses the issues.

When failure looms its ugly head, and it will, accept the option and possible reality and call for reinforcements in the form of a professional problem solver.  Then, when Aunt Nellie demands to know what you’re doing to resolve the problem ( and increase her monthly dividend payment) you’ll have a response which just might take the wind out of her sails.  Even in the midst of failure, seeing Aunt Nellie speechless has to be a very satisfactory moment.

It’s Still One of Those Days

You still have to resolve the problem with the two employees who can’t seem to be mature professionals.  You know their behavior is causing additional problems with productivity, morale, and your ever present case of heartburn.  You also know that ignoring this and thinking it will go away is not an option.  That’s like trying to ignore a toothache thinking that the missing filling will somehow heal itself.  Not going to happen.
This might be a good time to consult with a professional problem solver.  Why? It’s simple really.  You’ve tried everything you can think of and the personnel issue has continued.  It’s not getting any better and it just may be getting worse.  What can the problem solver do that you can’t?  The most obvious thing is that the problem solver will be able to see things from a fresh perspective.  That fresh approach can validate the identification of the actual problems.  Since the problem solver has no agenda other than to facilitate the resolution of the problems, the communications will likely be more honest and constructive.  After all, the problem solver doesn’t have the authority to fire anyone or cause any other kinds of grief.  The goal is to focus on the issue, behavior or situation and get a resolution in place that is effective and long lasting.  With that sort of agenda, having it remain one of those stays becomes less and less likely.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Which Role Do You Play?

How many of us remember the childhood story of the little red hen?  In a nutshell, it tells of a little red hen living with other farm animals.  She finds a grain of corn and decides to plant it.  When she asks for help from the others, no one wants to be bothered.  On her own she plants the corn, tends it, harvests it, and takes it to the miller for grinding.  From the flour that results she makes a loaf of bread.  When the bread is ready to eat, she finally gets offers to help her.  The others are more than willing to help eat the fruits of her labors but none was willing to labor with her.

Think about the problems within your organization.  Which role do you play?  Are you someone who works hard to solve the problem or are you one of those standing on the sidelines, waiting?  The only time you want to participate is when the problem has been solved and the fruits of others’ labor are now available.

In my assessment, that’s not the work ethic upon which this country was founded.  Of course there were issues in the past and there are issues today which need to be resolved.  But one of those issues to be resolved should never be the question of having one or two people do all the work to solve the problems, only to have the rest of the organization jump in and reap all the rewards.  Solutions which are developed in that scenario might be excellent ones but the residual bad feelings will almost always undermine their effectiveness.  Hard work does pay off but folks need to be willing to break a sweat.  Success will follow.

Cheerleader or Saboteur?

When it comes to problem solving, as the leader of your organization are you a cheerleader or a saboteur?  Do you sit on the sidelines while others work to find practical and realistic solutions, supporting them and encouraging them in their work?  Or are you sabotaging their efforts by second guessing their decisions and trying to force your choices on them?  When someone brings a creative solution to a problem do you give them lip service and then undermine any effort to achieve a consensus?

Does this really matter?  Yes, it does, if you’re serious about resolving problems within your organization.  Being a cheerleader reflects your confidence not only in your skills to lead but in the skills and talents of the people working for you.  Think back to a time when someone supported you and how motivated you were to achieve the goal or complete the task.  That same approach will motivate your employees to work as hard as they can to complete the tasks and achieve the goals.

What do you think happens when your employees figure out that you’re a saboteur?  How motivated do you think they will be to work as hard as they can to make the organization a smooth running operation, profitable and successful?  As the saboteur, how much support will you get for the solutions you support?

Put in these terms, which role have you played?  Honest answers may just help you begin the process of engaging in problem solving that is finally effective.  Bringing a professional problem solver into the mix can help you be even more effective.

Magic and Problem Solving?

Wouldn’t life be a whole lot simpler if we could snap our fingers, wiggle our nose, or blink our eyes and make all our problems disappear?  Why do the seemingly easy problems always cause the greatest heartburn?  The last question is the easier one to answer.  Whenever human beings are involved problems are almost always going to get complicated.  If there’s a problem with your car, you take it to a qualified mechanic, spend some money and the problem goes away.  Having a problem with your computer at work?  Call in the IT folks and again, the problem disappears.  Having a problem with two employees who can’t or won’t get along?  Why won’t that problem go away?  As a facilitator and problem solver I’d caution you about letting the egos and emotions rule.  When the problem involves humans it becomes crucial that the focus remain on the behavior or the issue – not the individuals.  It’s hard – sometimes seemingly impossible – but the egos have to stay out of the resolution.  That caution also includes you as the leader or manager.  Your ego and emotions need to be checked at the door as well.  If that ground rule isn’t followed the chances of reaching a consensus and resoluion will be greatly diminished.  Keeping your emotions in check can be easier with the help of a professional problem solver.  Save your ego for the verbal beating Aunt Nellie wants to unload on you about last month’s dividend check.

Who bears the responsibility for problem solving?

The last blog on due diligence started a thought process I’d like to share.  I also invite any comments from you, the readers.  Perhaps a detailed discussion will result and help us all.

The company’s leadership or management teams obviously bear responsibility for insuring that the company operates at peak efficiency.  Their competency has a great deal to do with how successful the company is.  Does this mean that the company’s leadership bears all the responsibility when things go bad and failure looms large in the mirror?  I don’t think so.

It’s easy to pass around the congratulations and best wishes when things go right and the profit margin is at a level everyone likes.  What happens when things go bad?  Too often there’s a lot of finger pointing, generally at the leadership.  The leaders, in turn, look for excuses as to why things went bad.  It isn’t often that you have a company sit down as a group – leadership and staff – and take a good hard look at why things aren’t working.  To repeat my theme – here’s where a competent problem solver may be invaluable.  He or she can effectively facilitate the meetings to insure that the focus remains where it should, on correctly identifying the problems and implementing realistic, long lasting solutions.  Isn’t it in everyone’s best interests that the company remains operational?

Employees have as much a stake in the process as the leadership and stockholders.  Here’s the bottom line.  Employees also bear some responsibility for problem solving.  The leadership owes them the opportunity to participate in the identification of problems and the development and implementation of solutions.  Employees owe the leadership their full dedication to resolving the problems once and for all, to the benefit of everyone concerned.