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Want High Performance? Look In a Mirror!

Guest post by: Rudy Miick

Article Overview: The days of do what I say, not what I do, are dead. You and I better be walking our talk! This article was first published in Food & Drink Magazine in 2009.

Want High Performance? Look In a Mirror!

As the big dog leader, what’s your part in the performance achievement of your team? I’ll bet you know the old saying, “Managers manage things, leaders lead people.” By definition, managers “maintain” while leaders anticipate and guide, leader’s move ones company. At the same time, if you have more than one business location, I’d make the case that managers are, by default, leaders too. And from here the plot thickens:

I’d take the bet that for you, the idea of business is simple. There are musts, e.g., 1. Charge a fair price (regardless of your product) 2. Provide an experience for your customers’ that is both rewarding and pleasant. Here’s where complexity begins: You and I have to do right things right. The words effective and efficient come to mind; then there’s: 3. Costing; 4. Production; 5. Cash handling; 6. Marketing; 7. Budgeting; 8. Our guarantee and open door (or not) to hear the experience of our customers. And the list goes on to another 955 things, maybe 10,955 things. Regardless, as long or short as your list of musts may be, and as core as each is to your success, I’d make the case that what is obvious for you, is not so obvious to your team. And, all the more true for those managers or leaders new to your business or your team.

This is no time to plead, “poor me.” Performance is a must. If Chopper Reid authored this column, he’d say, “Toughen the _ _ _ _ up.” Screw the current economy. No excuses! The issue is: Are you happy with your management team? How about your leadership team? How about the business performance of your team as a whole?

If your answer’s no, do something about it! That’s why you’re reading this column! Here’re three (3) steps to get your answer to an ecstatic, “YES!” If your answer is yes, read ‘em anyway! Put these three (3) steps into play, and enjoy the positive shift in performance! Rock on!



Step 1: Everything’s an interview

Imagine what you’re listening to or observing is an interview. Would you hire the behavior? If yes, celebrate it NOW, this very moment. If your answer is no, course correct the behavior now. And know that data based feedback is far more effective than a compliment to insure continued performance. “Good job” could mean anyone of a hundred nuances performed in a minute. What did good job mean? Instead, an action as simple as answering the phone within three rings with a smile on one’s face, can be applauded specifically!

Course correction in the moment is equally potent. Data based feedback as simple as, “Three (3) rings!” with a head nod, then a thumbs up, acknowledging, “I know you can do it!” is far more powerful than simply walking by and grumbling to yourself.



Step 2: Define excellence

Sad but true, own the fact, “there is no longer such a thing as common sense.” You can moan all day that the work ethic isn’t what it used to be, that people don’t care anymore, etc. Lose it.

Instead, pay attention. Anywhere you’ve had to course correct performance more than once in the last week, you’d better go back and define excellence to minute detail. See step 1. Have you defined that your phones are picked up in three rings, answered with a smile, the name of your company, the team member’s name, the day part, and an action step, e.g., “Food & Drink Magazine, good morning, this is Rudy! How may I help you?”

Time and again, I meet leaders that live and breathe the company, the strategy, the new roll out. Bravo to you for this commitment. But wait. Ponder for a minute. By the time you’re ready to put something new into place, you’ve literally had hundreds of hours of thought put into the idea. For you the roll out is obvious. For your team, anyone not involved for the same amount of intellectual investment as you, the idea is new and shared in minutes with the expectation of excellent results the first time through. Easy to forget you’ve had the idea rambling in your mind for days and months. What is common sense for you is NOT common sense its brand new and appropriate action steps are likely not obvious.

New or not, define excellence from a perspective never assuming common sense. Case in point, I have a client whose housekeeping and maintenance is done by a strong in-house team. As we began our work defining excellence, I noticed that the plants in the building were really well maintained. At the same time, the pots in which the plants were placed were dusty and dirty. When asked about the disparity, I was told, “Well, gosh, we know our job is to clean the plants three times a week, no one’s ever said to clean the pots.” With this response, I found myself smiling. As obvious as it (likely) is to you and me that cleaning the pots is part of “cleaning the plants” it is in fact a different step, until we define that “in our company” plants means pots too.

Step 2: Lose the drama!

If the real meetings are happening after your meeting, beware! If it takes going to the bar or at best the water cooler to have a real conversation, likely you’ve got a ton of room to improve performance!

One of my favorite games with management and leaders is to name the elephant in the room. I choose to call these moose in the room. Somehow moose seem easier, funnier to name. I invite you to begin your meetings with a little game I call, “name the moose!”

What do you gain? Immediately upon being able to name the unspoken, you can begin (if you personally are willing) to speak about the unspoken. Suddenly, and I do mean, immediately, issues that get in the way of top production get raised. The moose list quickly gets realized as the various roadblocks, rocks in the road, lack of resources that get in the way of performance. Like the proverbial quote, “there’s nothing to fear but fear itself”, when fears or unspoken concerns are named solutions become more evident. From my experience fear of speaking up is the biggest impediment to success.

What if speaking the unspoken became a trait most admired in your company, on your team? “I wonder if “this” is a moose?” is one of the most effective questions my team can ask themselves.

Step 3: Model your own expectations

Look in a mirror! You may be your own worst enemy when it comes to your team achieving excellence! It’s easy to stay in drama, no doubt.

Can you hear that the way you’re providing feedback may be “a moose?” Can you actually hold that what is so obvious for you is NOT so obvious to others? This is your gift and your curse as leader. You likely got to your position because you take initiative! My bet is that you know that a pot is part of a plant. You know that it makes sense to answer a phone in three rings instead of ten or simply letting the darn thing go to voice mail.

And at the same time, if you haven’t demanded that excellence is defined in specifics you are likely part of the problem. I invite you to begin to laugh at yourself, look in a mirror and figure out how you can actually model the behaviors you expect of your team! Be the moose, clean up the droppings behind you… suddenly instead of fear of the unspoken, there’s excitement of what’s possible. Darn it, back full circle, this is simple, not easy.

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Article Tags: accountability, business culture, commitment, leadership, performance



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