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

“And where do you want accountability, solely on your shoulders, as the manager, or do you want the entire group accountable for their own performance?” I repeated.

"I want my whole team accountable," Reggie replied.

"You see, Reggie, in the beginning, as a manager of a small team, you can take the brunt of the responsibility, because the responsibility is small. As time goes by, if you want to step up to larger responsibility, you will find that strategy will fail you. You, as the manager, can no longer solve all the problems, catch every package that falls off a forklift, fix every little discrepancy that comes roaring at you. If you try to do it all, by yourself, you will fail.

"So, you have managers who know they have to get their teams involved, to get their teams to hold themselves accountable. But they don't know how. So, some consultant recommends a bonus program to get buy in. And you have seen, first hand, what that does to accountability."

Reggie took a deep breath. "So, it was okay when things were small and times were good. But now that we are growing, more and more people are trying to game the bonus system."

"And, lord help you, when times go bad, and they will. A bonus system during bad times is a sure-fire morale killer."

"I think, the biggest lesson, for me," Reggie replied, "is that, as things grow bigger and more complicated, I have to learn how to hold my people accountable to the performance standards that we set. And a bonus system doesn't substitute for that skill."