Jumping Off the Bus

According to all sources/The street’s the place to go/’Cause tonight for the first time/It’s gonna start raining men. — The Weather Girls

As the boss, some would say your job boils down to one key directive: get the right people on the bus.

But what if everyone is jumping off?

Those who read my blogs know I have ideas about morale, engagement, and stress on the job. If you read a bit deeper, you’ll find that, unlike some, my asks are directed towards leaders, not troops.

Ask not your people to practice meditation (to deal with your bullshit), ask yourself to stop doling it out.

But oh if life were only so simple.

I know some great managers out there whose troops are literally flying off their buses, and not for any reasons they can directly control.

Here are three handy-dandy signs that you are trying to lead from within a dysfunctional organization:

1. At review time, you are handed merit numbers for your team from several levels above. Your job is to deliver those numbers.
2. You find out by surprise that you are managing a new team. Maybe because someone else left the company.
3. Your team members have a great new idea — they are told to wait until hack day. Or they want to work on a specific project — but they can’t because that’s a different team.

Here’s what you need to fight for:

1. Every level of manager who is delivering a merit number has a hand, ideally a deciding hand, in what that number is. If the EVP insists on deciding the number, the EVP delivers and discusses the number. No exceptions. The better route is to let front-line managers make the budget decisions.
2. Organization changes are serious and deserve serious decision-making, most particularly among the bench of next-generation leaders. If a manager leaves suddenly, conduct a “360 review” of the team members, the manger’s former peers, and the next level up before deciding how to reorganize. Consider company objectives (obviously). Maybe there’s a better way to form up.
3. Let people self-organize as much as possible. Find out if the great new idea could open up a new market or solve a customer problem. If it might move the needle, find a way to give that team real resources and accompanying deadlines and deliverables. If someone created a working demo on the weekend, give it serious consideration.

Motivation is a precious commodity. So is innovation. Don’t squander them.