Greetings from St. Louis, MO.

I would like to welcome our new subscribers from Toronto. I was there last week in a series of workshops on Time Span and the research of Elliott Jaques.
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Our next Leadership program begins Wednesday, April 30, 2008. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
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"Yes, but shouldn't these people be reporting to me?" asked Ted.

"That depends. Functionally, their roles produce results you are interested in, but are you prepared to be their Manager?" I replied.

"I think so. I think they can report to me. I think I can hold them accountable for producing those results. I think I can check up on them to make sure they are working," Ted proposed.

"That's only the surface part of being a Manager." I stopped to draw a picture. "Here you are, and these people, you believe, should report to you. But are you prepared to be their Manager?

"Your most important role, in the Manager relationship with these guys, is for you to bring value to their thinking and their work." Ted stared at the simple picture of circles and lines.

"Are you bringing value to their thinking and their work by telling them that their reports are due on Friday and then reminding them Monday morning that their reports are late?"

Ted was still staring, but putting the pieces together. "Well, no, not when you put it that way."

"Then, how, as their Manager, do you bring that value? And are you committed to bring that value? Are you willing to commit the time to bring that value?

"The answers to these questions will determine whether these people should report to you." -TF

The group had been working for ninety minutes. They were working in a simulation to complete a complex task. Once the task sequence and its steps were decided and practiced, the test was to complete the entire sequence in a twenty minute time frame.

I stopped the simulation to ask a simple question. "Which of you has become the leader?" There had been no formal selection, but the group immediately looked at Sam.

"What is it about Sam, that has made him the leader?" I continued.

The team members began to exchange glances, wondering if they were all thinking the same thing. "Well, Sam seemed to know how to organize this thing together," Marvin volunteered.

"How did he do that? You have not worked together as a team before."

There was a brief moment, then Kyle piped up. "Sam pulled us all together, asking questions about what each of us thought. Within three minutes, he had formulated a plan, assigned some individual responsibilities and we started working."

So I am thinking to myself. Sam was chosen as the leader because he had understood the complexity of the situation better (at least faster) than the others.

At that moment, Emma stood up. She had been sitting on the sidelines, in fact, I wondered if she had been paying attention.

"I think we can complete this task in five minutes, instead of twenty," she said.

All eyes turned. In an instant, a new leader emerged. -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I read the post on Race Day, and I am very curious about how the crew selected the crew leader for Race Day? Did they just elect someone?

Response:

This is a very interesting question. In some of my workshops, I often assign a small group to complete a complex task. While the exercise is to the complete the task, the purpose of the exercise is to put the group in a position where a leader emerges.

So, who becomes the leader? It is seldom put to a vote, but the group always has an intuitive sense who the best person should be.

At first, I thought the decision might be related to technical skills, but that is often not the case. Most often, it is the person who has the time span most suited for the assigned task.

It is the person who understands not only each of the individual steps of the task, but the most appropriate sequence, the relationships of those steps, and most importantly, the people who will be performing each of the steps.

The fascinating part in the selection of this person, is that the members of the group have an intuitive sense of who the leader should be. -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What is the incentive to the person who performs at a higher level than the status quo, if they are rewarded the same?

Response:

While this sounds like a simple question, it is actually quite complicated. While I am not a fan of performance bonuses, I am a fan of differential pay bands for those who are more effective than others. Simply put, people should not be rewarded the same.

There should be different consequences. But the most powerful consequence may not be compensation.

A study was conducted with a group of factory workers. One group produced a high level of product each day (avg 94), the other group produced a lower level (avg 76). The manager was instructed to change two things.

First, each day, post the personal productivity of individual team members. Second, any team member who improved one day to the next, received a complimentary remark from the manager. No pizza, no bonus, no extra time off, just a complimentary remark.

At the conclusion of the study, the low performing group had improved from (avg 76) to (avg 84). Everyone was quite pleased.

The high performing group improved from (avg 94) to (avg 146).

Most managers end up spending time with their poorest performers. Where is the real payoff? -TF

For the past two weeks, we have been talking about bonus and incentive systems, how they work, how they don't work, issues of accountability. I have had more questions, emails and posted comments than any other time since we started this blog.

But we're done. Change the subject. Because all these histrionics about bonus and incentive systems all scream at the following question. When all is said and all is done,

How do we bring out the best in people?

Next week, we will re-focus the discussion on that central question. Meanwhile, how do you bring out the best in your people? -TF

We still have three seats left in our Leadership program that begins next Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale. If you are thinking about putting someone into that program, please reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com. -TF