Better Way to Lead

Traditional management says that these are the people who need the most supervision, so they require the most of your time. Agile Leaders know that if you spend your time with your highest performers, you will get more done, you’ll improve your own job satisfaction, you’ll turn your highest performers into all-stars, and your lowest performers will either rise to the challenge or leave.

Traditional management encourages the notion of a “chain of command” where “decision-makers” control the behaviors of the “low-level” people underneath. That way of thinking tends to create failure because it misses the entire point of business, which is satisfying customer needs. Agile Leaders know that to achieve their business goals, customers need the employees in your firm–salespeople, engineers, manufacturing folk–to provide them with products or services. The purpose of management (top and middle) is to help employees take care of the customer.

Traditional management loves processes. They create repeatable, documented processes for absolutely everything. But, that removes any chance of a Team Member coming up with a better way to do something. And the larger an Organization gets, the more processes they have in place- which leads to layers and layers of standardized forms and unneeded bureaucracies. Agile Leaders know that there are always better ways to do things and that every Team Member has the capability to improve how we do things. We don’t constrain with processes, we empower.

Traditional management conducts annual performance reviews for each employee. There are really only two outcomes from this method of evaluating employees- you give them a good review at which point they expect a raise because it’s been a year since you last rewarded them, or you give them a poor review at which point it is probably too late for them to correct the issues. Agile Leaders know a continuous feedback loop gives instant feedback for good and bad performance. Good work is rewarded in the moment so that it could be repeated, and bad work is caught early enough to be corrected.

Traditional management wants to have a very, very specific job description for each Team Member. They should know exactly what they are responsible for. Agile Leaders know job descriptions are one of the most limiting things you can do to a Team Member. By having a specific job description, you are literally limiting your expectations for that team member. You are setting them up to refuse work that is outside the description and possibly hiding their greatest talents.

Traditional businesses all have a vision and/or a mission statement. The biggest problem with a mission statement is that if you have to tell people what your mission is, chances are you aren’t doing it very well. Agile Leaders know that if you actually believe your mission and live it on a daily basis, it becomes much more authentic and meaningful than any placard on a wall. Live your reputation and it becomes reality to your customers and your Team Members.

Traditional management believes in time-based employment. Employees work from 9-5 and in exchange receive a paycheck. But what happens when someone does their best work from 2-7pm? Agile Leaders know the best way to increase productivity is to switch the focus from time to results (outcomes over outputs). Instead of telling your employees they can’t stop working until a set time, give them the goals and tell them to manage their time accordingly. You get more done, you utilize people’s preferred time and method of working, and you increase Team Member happiness.

Traditional management has this idea that they only hire the best. In order to be the best, potential new-hires have to be perfect in every way – perfect outfit, perfect resume, perfect experience, and perfect answers. Agile Leaders focus on a person’s strengths and how they could be useful in your Organization. Don’t miss an opportunity to add a great person to your team because you spot a weakness. Instead, focus on strengths and how to best utilize that Team Member in your Organization.

Traditional management loves data. They put metrics in place to track their metrics tracking. They spend countless hours collecting, reporting, and analyzing the numbers in overinflated systems. They spend more time with reports and dashboards than they do with their employees and customers. Agile Leaders focus on what really matters- delivering value. Our greatest measure of success is the happiness of our customers and the productivity of our team members.