LEADERSHIP RESOURCES BLOG

Guidance on leadership development & strategic planning.

Hard Conversations: How Personal Accountability Has Suffered in the Age of "Everyone Gets a Trophy"

By Leadership Resources 10/02/2018
leadership development omaha

The key to personal growth is honest, constructive evaluation. The past few decades have seen the rise of a mindset that casts every individual as equals, not just in opportunity, but in outcome. While few deny that people should be treated fairly, we’re starting to see the negative consequences of rewarding everyone evenly, regardless of differences in effort, ability, or intelligence.

By giving everyone a trophy, we fail to equip young people with an understanding of how the world works. In truth, some people do better than others in life. But without knowing the underlying reasons for this variation of outcome, people become embittered and their own personal development is stunted as a result.

So, when someone underperforms in the workplace, leaders need to find effective ways to approach the subject, knowing that this person might not have received this type of criticism before. How can leaders tackle employee performance management in the modern age?

Making Expectations Clear

One of the most important tasks of a leader is laying out expectations early and often. The more staff members hear these expectations, the more likely they are to follow them. Then, if anyone fails to meet them, there should be no confusion as to where they went wrong. In this way, clear expectations lead to increased accountability.

These guidelines can be iterated in many ways. Some businesses create acronyms or mantras that keep their mission statement front and center at all times. Hosting daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings that go over these expectations can also help improve employee and business performance management. These meetings should dive into real world applications to reinforce the importance of maintaining these standards.

11 Ways To Create Accountability And Increase Productivity At Your Organization. Download this whitepaper.

Talk with Transparency

When it comes time to confront an individual who is underperforming, be as open and transparent as possible. There is no benefit to talking around the issue. So many people have been let down by coaches, parents, teachers, and other leaders avoiding the real problems and resorting to platitudes. Leaders must speak directly to the person and address their shortcomings – but they can’t stop there.

To truly foster personal and leadership growth, a good leader must explain why they’re giving this feedback, and how it can be used as a teachable moment where this person can learn and grow. Negative feedback simply isn’t enough and it might even shock the person if they’re not used to receiving it. By offering full transparency and constructive criticism, leaders can help lift up their team members and strengthen the entire business. If expectations have been clearly established, this person should be able to see where they took a wrong turn and how they can right it moving forward.

Limits of the Blame Game

Yes, sometimes something is entirely one person’s fault. In these cases, the person should take responsibility for the mistake and seek to fix it. This is a crucial part of leadership development. However, when people begin playing the blame game, either casting all the blame on themselves or others, things can go awry.

Some companies have built into their performance management operations “autopsies without blame” (a term coined by Jim Collins). These are meetings involving all relevant team members where a problem is dissected but not targeted to one individual. The goal here is not to rid anyone of accountability, but to address a real problem and move forward as a team, with full knowledge that everyone makes mistakes. For large scope business performance management concerns, this approach is often warranted. People will feel less alienated and more willing to solve the problem collaboratively.

Conversations involving performance management are not easy and some people aren’t used to receiving harsh criticism. Still, there are ways for leaders to make these conversations easier and more productive in the end. By setting clear standards, speaking openly and honestly, and not casting targeted blame for larger issues, team members will perform better and grow as individuals.

Leadership Resources helps leaders hone these interpersonal skills. Through education, personalized business coaching, and a large library of resources, we make the impossible possible by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. For more information, contact us today.

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Leadership Resources Joins the Omaha Community

By Leadership Resources 10/12/2016
Leadership Resources Omaha Skyline

We want to invite clients, vendors and the public to join us for an open house on Thursday, October 27 th from 4 to 6 p.m. at our new Omaha office, located in Miracle Hills at 1045 N. 115th Street, Suite 350.

Join us for food, tours of the new building, a ribbon cutting with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and a chance to meet our team.

The local demand for leadership development and strategic alignment within growing organizations has allowed us to open a second office. Our new location will house a team of Leadership Development Specialists’ and staff, while providing a space for coaching, facilitation and forums.

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By strengthening our presence in Omaha, we are eager to continue building on and fostering growing relationships within the community. We have worked with hundreds of companies throughout the region and are excited to be able to provide an additional location for meetings and coaching sessions.

We believe that development in an organization is vital to a company’s growth and success. We will create customized development journeys by identifying, aligning and developing high potential leaders within your organization. Through leadership content, strategic solutions, and our proprietary software LRSuccessPath®, we have a proven process that drives organizational and personal success.

 

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Real Men Wear Pink in Solidarity with Breast Cancer Fight

By Leadership Resources 09/22/2016
Leadership Resources Boyd Ober Wears Pink

You may know Boyd Ober as CEO and President at Leadership Resources, but this year he has taken on an additional role. Boyd is the 2016 Chairman of the Lincoln chapter for Real Men Wear Pink. Real Men Wear Pink is a national breast cancer fundraising and awareness campaign.

Unlock The Leadership Potential Within Your Organization. Download this whitepaper.

“There are a lot of women that go through breast cancer or any other cancer and don’t have that support network,” says Ober, so he and his team wear pink everyday as sign of their commitment to raise money and awareness to fight breast cancer.

Read the full article from The Daily Nebraskan to learn more about Boyd’s personal connection to the disease and the Real Men Wear Pink Campaign.

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