By Jeffrey, on January 26th, 2012
Managers undermine their integrity in following a “don’t tell them” strategy.
The topic in my leading change class today was integrity and its impact on a leader’s ability to effect change. Integrity was defined as honoring your word and doing what you said you would do by when you said you would do it and if you are not going to do what you said, to communicate fully to everyone affected as soon as you know you won’t be going what you said so that they can make the appropriate and necessary accommodations. During the discussion, several students told of job situations in which projects they were working on were not going to get done when promised, but were told by their immediate managers not to tell the project clients. The reasoning was that if the clients were told before the due date, they would question the manger’s competence. However, once the deadline was missed, other factors could be blamed.
Although managers may think this “don’t tell them” strategy protects them from looking bad, it actually undermines their integrity and reputations. Each of the students involved in these situations said they lost respect and regard for the managers involved. This is unfortunate since all the managers needed to do to maintain their integrity was to have closure conversations with their clients.
Having one closure conversation, even if it may be a little uncomfortable, seems like a small price to pay for keeping one’s integrity and the respect of others.
By Jeffrey, on January 25th, 2012
Whose responsibility is it to communicate? Does a manager’s responsibility for communicating an assignment absolve the employee of their responsibility for finding out what the assignment is?
A student approached me at the beginning of class to inform me that, “I didn’t read the case assigned for tonight. I wasn’t here last week and they [pointing to other students] told me you changed the case, but I didn’t know it.” When I asked when he found out about the change, he replied “Just now, so I didn’t know to read it.” I asked him, “Did you contact anyone in the class to find out what happened in your absence and if there was anything you needed to know about?” Surprisingly, he replied “No, I didn’t think I needed to do that”, and returned to his seat, apparently forgetting (or ignoring) that he is responsible for any assignments even if he misses class.
Communication is two-way, which means both parties have a responsibility. Managers have a responsibility to be clear on what they want, when they want it, and, if appropriate, how it is to be done. Employees also have a responsibility – to be clear on what the assignment is, when it is due, and how it is to be done. If employees are not clear, they have a responsibility to find out rather than hide behind the excuses “I didn’t know” or “I wasn’t told”.
The student could have demonstrated his responsibility by having a closure conversation.
By Jeffrey, on January 16th, 2012
Influencing others – having an impact on their ideas, opinions, and actions – requires using different types of conversations and not recognizing this limits our effectiveness.
I recently read an article in which the authors maintain that effective leadership requires influencing others and that leaders can influence those others through five different influence styles. The authors
Continue reading Influence Requires Using Different Conversations
By Jeffrey, on December 12th, 2011
Successful change depends on the use of the four conversations. I recently led an MBA course on Leading and Managing Change to a group of practicing managers in which they were required to produce an “impossible change” – one that was currently well beyond their position and capability to produce. In other words, they couldn’t
Continue reading Successful Change Uses the Four Conversations
By Jeffrey, on December 6th, 2011
This is from Laurie, even though it says the author is Jeffrey.
I see why performance conversations are such a confront: saying publicly what I’ll do and by when would be fine if I was sure nobody was listening!
So, I have created a timeline for getting my “management is missing” summaries – including solutions – out
Continue reading Performance Conversation – Requests and Promises for Agreements
By Jeffrey, on November 21st, 2011
We recently received three copies of our book, The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results, from our publisher and they were in Chinese (see photo). What a treat to see how something you wrote looks in another language! A colleague of mine has had several of his textbooks translated into other languages, but none
Continue reading Our Book in Chinese
By Laurie, on November 18th, 2011
I took my ideas about an online conversation for “Management is Missing” into several meetings over coffee and lunch in the past 10 days. I had lunch with a man who develops websites: he liked the Performance Circle idea, and we sketched out some thoughts on how to have the kind of interactive discussion I’m
Continue reading Understanding Conversation – Clarifying Ideas and Roles
By Jeffrey, on November 17th, 2011
Credibility is a key element in effective leadership and depends on the effective use of closure conversations. Most people realize that credibility is built by telling the truth. But credibility is also built by doing what you said you would do by when you said you would do it and when you don’t, acknowledging the
Continue reading Leadership Credibility Depends on Closure
By Jeffrey, on November 14th, 2011
My daughter and I recently visited my mother at her home in Kentucky. My mother is 89 (will be 90 early next year) and is concerned about who will “pay her bills” (take care of her) in the remaining years of her life. It was an invitation for an understanding conversation, which my daughter and
Continue reading Understanding the End Game
By Jeffrey, on November 11th, 2011
Good working relationships are essential to getting work done and to a satisfying work place. But what can we do when relationships turn sour? You could have a closure conversation with the person.
One of the managers in my Mastery in Execution class had a very poor working relationship with a woman at work and it
Continue reading Closure Conversations Repair Relationships
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