Does your organization know what it is trying to accomplish?
By
Charlie Dexter

Based upon some incredibly horrific customer service experiences this week there are a number of organizations in our community that have no idea what in the world they are trying to accomplish.

Employees in these organizations exist like zombies seeing work as a means to an end rather than an end in, and of, itself.  They are alive on the outside, but they are dying within.  I’m sure if you and I interviewed the leaders of these organizations we would quickly discover the root cause of organizational dysfunction, which is namely - the leader. 

Leaders spread either trust or terror and, not surprisingly, most terror prone leaders think they are trustworthy.  A trustworthy leader is an excellent steward of the organization’s resources by efficiently and effectively achieving the organization’s mission with an energetic team of people who are highly motivated, empowered, and supported.  In this scenario the leader is the servant, not the master; and a coach, not a cop.

Dysfunctional leaders who spread terror in their dysfunctional organizations usually experience a much higher than necessary turnover of staff.  Unfortunately for this leader the staff turnover is usually masked by a variety of “good reasons”.  I recently had an after class discussion with two of my students who have fairly important positions and will be hard to replace.  Both of them are looking for new jobs in organizations that have a Servant Leader at the top.  Since these are two very bright, energetic and personable professionals, I have no doubt that their current bosses will soon be blindsided by resignations.

How do you know if you as the leader of your organization is trustworthy, as defined above?

Try this - call everyone together and ask each person to write down the mission of your organization.  Then, have all of them write the strategies the organization executes to accomplish the mission.  Don’t do this as a discussion; it has to be in writing.  Collect the papers, (pour yourself a highball or two), sit down, and remove sharp objects from your reach.  Read the papers and prepare to jump for joy, or more likely cry in anguish.  There is a better than 50/50 chance you are leading a team  of people who have no idea what they are trying to accomplish and, if they do know the mission statement, probably don’t agree or understand the execution of strategy necessary to achieve the mission. 

Such organizations remind me of a group exercise I use when conducting strategic planning sessions.  I ask everyone to close their eyes and, with their eyes closed, point to the north.  When they open their eyes we see fingers pointing in every direction!  Then I ask those who are absolutely sure which direction is north to stand, close their eyes and point north.  Again, fingers are pointing in different directions.  If we are navigating in different directions, or miss True North by even one degree we will miss London and end up in the Sahara Desert.

If your team members all know where they are going and how they are going to get there, don’t take it for granted.  Continue to practice Servant Leadership - where the people dealing with the customers are at the top of the organizational chart and each layer of supervision below is charged with serving those above.  The Chief Executive is then at the bottom of the upside down pyramid.  On the other hand, if your team members are not all on the same page, it’s time for some trust building. Without trust, nothing else will help.

I’m still shaking my head over this week’s horrific customer service experiences perpetrated upon several of my readers and on me.  If the employees involved were not zombies they would have know better.  I hope managers in Fairbanks will read and understand the importance of bringing their employees together, doing the group exercises suggested above, adjusting their management style, and flipping their organizational charts upside down.

Our Fairbanks Community deserves nothing less.