Effective leaders successfully tie principles to individual members' daily work

     Leaders must define a transformation built around a guiding set of principles that every member of the organization can relate to.  These may seem common, yet they provide clarity around vital relationship interactions and offer a way to communicate to the organization the desired leadership approach, beliefs, experiences, and behaviors.

It is not a question of right or wrong,

it is a question of effectiveness.

Will the existing beliefs produce the actions

needed to achieve the results?

    When it comes to organizational culture, principles set and reinforce the tone for how members treat one another and wish to be treated.  These guiding principles are relevant to every member in everything from day-to-day tasks to organization-wide meetings.  Effective leaders successfully tie principles to individual members' daily work establishing the fundamental norms, rules, and behavioral actions that represent what is desirable.  They help the staff determine the rightfulness or wrongfulness of actions. Hence, principles are more explicit than values and are meant to govern action.  There are a few basic assumptions concerning the guiding principles:

• The principles are broadly intended to cover all levels and functions within the organization.
• The principles are intended to guide the professional practice and to inform stakeholders about the principles they can expect to be upheld. 
• Principles should proactively guide the behaviors of members in everyday practice.
• The principles are not independent but overlap in many ways.
• These principles are intended to set the standard of practice for all staff. 
• These principles are part of an evolving process of self-examination by the organization and should be revisited and examined for possible review and revision on a regular basis.

Teach and engages members:

1. Encourage people to challenge and be creative in their efforts to improve the process
2. Keep in touch with people through systematic habitual shop-floor visits, regular communication, follow up and confirmation of the process. 
3. Create an environment for innovation, risk-taking, and engagement which is risk-free/fear free
4. Coach and guide people by involvement in their process and problems – go see, be present with those doing the work
5. Communicate the vision, mission, values, and principles to create understanding while guiding people through their own actions
6. Develop an environment to ensure “staff” are seen as the focus for service
7. Encourage accountability for behaviors, skills, and actions
8. Impact people’s lives by mentoring and coaching

     Communication plays a vital role within the organization via clarity in a message of purpose, mission, vision, values that are simple and concise; the back of an envelope short message that clarifies what does this mean to me – what must I do and why do we do it. In the beginning, this can be scripted, the elevator speech that anyone can deliver consistently, and everyone can understand consistently.  As the journey continues and matures, this should become a less scripted message whereby individuals have the ability to adapt the message through service and problem solving, yet the fundamental alignment is consistent with the overall purpose, mission, vision, values. The leader keeps in touch with people through systematic habitual shop-floor visits, regular one to one and small group communication, follow up and confirmation of the process.  While maintaining this close contact, the leader will coach and guide people by involvement in the process and problems – go see, be present with those doing the work. This “go see” provides the opportunity to model new beliefs and actions. This is followed by giving each individual the environment for innovation, risk-taking, and engagement which is risk-free/fear-free; thereby the new experience which encourages people to challenge and be creative in their efforts to improve the process while being accountability for behaviors, skills, and actions.

Respect for people:

1. Treat people as the most important asset in the company – not just the cliché
2. Realize people are more important than task
3. Create a trust that brings reliability, predictability, and consistency
4. Understand individuals are a “10” hungry for achieving something bigger than themselves
5. Treat others as you would expect them to treat you
6. Create an environment of mutual trust and respect
7. Practice welcoming problems as opportunities, not a vehicle to allocate blame and shame
8. Understand issues from another’s point of view.  Seek to understand, seek to empathize
9. Recognize and demonstrate the value of people to the company
10. Recognize and support the need for people to learn and develop
11. Aim for win-win conclusion in situations
12. Establish a covenant of civility

     It gets no simpler than this; “the golden rule”.  Do not be a hypocrite who sights the cliché that “our people are our greatest asset” then cut budgets for training and development, or worse - the people’s jobs.  Do not treat them as the stepping stone to an objective, or less important than the task itself.  Leaders rise above this cliché and create a community based on relationships of trust, value for one another, affirmation, mutual respect, truth and civility that brings reliability, predictability, and consistency. Leaders seek to understand with empathy, seek the input and advice from those within the process from their perspective and expertise.  They establish an environment in which individuals know they can bring their spirit and passion as a positive good each day identifying and solving issues without blame and shame.

Principles must be owned by everyone

 Process focused:

1. Attack processes, not people
2. Initiate to make “it” better than when you arrived
3. Apply a questioning approach – why, why, why?
4. Do not blame, ensure a deep understanding of the problem
5. If a mistake or problem has happened the process has allowed it.
6. Learn and understand why mistakes happen
7. Lead effective route cause analysis and countermeasure
8. Coach people to look for opportunities to improve the process
9. Go and See – get the fact at the point of cause

     Attack the process, not the person.  As a whole, individuals do not come to work with the intent to fail or to create failure.  Each individual has the desire to be part of something bigger than themself, part of building something of excellence and a community of peers with a “cause”.  Teach and encourage the application of a questioning approach – why, why, why?  To learn and understand why mistakes happen.  Again, this is not about blame and shame for faults, rather about seeking to ensure a deep understanding of the problem and how the process has allowed it.  As the experts within the processes, people desire to identify the root cause and provide solutions based upon their process expertise. This empowerment creates engagement and self-ownership to build standards and ensure normal exceptional operating conditions.

Culture is the sum of your daily actions and behaviors.  

It becomes a set of norms for how you want 

the people every single day

Support and recognition:

1. Encourage the use of a clear escalation process to inspire confidence to learn and achieve
2. Find new ways of rewarding excellent work
3. Direct all service of yourself and others towards the point where value is added
4. Training is a key part of supporting people to do their job
5. Be available for people
6. Focus on strength and augment weaknesses for growth
7. Recognize and reward employees for their contributions to the success and the success of the team

     As a leader, your role and responsibility are to those individuals closest to the work – the production or service provided.  The role then is always to serve their needs; this is the point at which value is created – hence the key performance point of contact – the people are an asset, not an expense.  Get out of the office and conference rooms and go see, spend time with the people adding the value. Seek to understand their strengths, their perspective of frustrations, fears, barriers, needs, desire, must and wants.  Be present with them; make them the center of attention, your only focus with active listening coupled with empathy. Focus on how to lift their strengths and their diversity to build a cohesive team covering weaknesses. Always remember, people don’t fail – processes fail.  Encourage the use of a clear escalation process to inspire confidence to learn and achieve. Recognize and reward employees for their contributions to the success and the success of the team.

Effective communication and strategy deployment:

1. Create alignment to a common purpose to the point of understanding
2. Over-communicate by listening, being present, silent, empathetic
3. Know it is about building relationships and community
4. Implement and communicate clear definite standards
5. Review and monitor progress constantly, make information visual and easy to interpret by anyone
6. Guide and lead people to understand their worth and their ideas to meet objectives
7. Understand the complete process of strategy deployment and execution
8. Establish regular reviews and confirmation of action plans to validate, follow up, integrate as learning
9. Working towards a clearly defined vision, mission, values, and principles

     Work towards clearly defining the purpose, vision, mission, values and guiding principles. Know that the organization is about building relationships and community. Create alignment to a common purpose so as to create awareness and understanding of why the strategy is matters and how staff or key to the strategy deployment and execution process. Ensure that each individual understands the “What’s In It For Me (WIIFM)” personal purpose and is aligned by the clarity of how what “I” do supports the overall purpose of the organization while achieving the strategy. Over-communicate by actively listening, being present, insightful, empathetic; guide and lead people to understand their worth and their ideas to meet objectives. Review and monitor progress constantly; make information visual and easy to interpret by anyone. Establish regular reviews and confirmation of action plans to validate, follow up, integrate as learning.

Commitment to standards:

1. Understand what the normal condition is versus abnormal
2. Maintain personal discipline, direct and coach others to keep within standards and procedures
3. Develop clear user-friendly visual controls at all levels to help monitor and improve standards
4. Always react to off standard situations with immediate investigation and countermeasure
5. Comment on and guide others when a standard is overlooked or neglected
6. If no standard exists – develop one
7. Conflict resolution – zero tolerance for the avoidance of conflict

    Develop clear user-friendly visual controls at all levels to help monitor and improve standards.  If no standard exists – develop one.  Model the standard behaviors and actions so that everyone is clear as to what the normal condition is versus abnormal. Maintain personal discipline, direct and coach others to keep within standards and procedures through experiences.  Always react to off standard situations with immediate investigation and countermeasure as learning points.  Comment on and guide others when a standard is overlooked or neglected. There must be a zero-tolerance for deviations, defects or avoidance of issue resolution.

Influence change and continuous improvement: 

1. Understand and know what changes are required
2. Be part of the change, demonstrate positive change actions and behaviors
3. Review own work for its value and outcomes towards the vision
4. Take advice, training, and guidance to help you lead the change
5. Inspire respect by admitting mistakes on the path of change
6. Stimulate others and inspire actions towards the future state
7. Work one step at a time, check, confirm and then move on
8. Identify own inhibitors, be honest and communicate to help evolve methods to overcome lack of knowledge and confidence
9. Change is the only constant – challenge, have the courage and be creative in your efforts – continually challenge the current way

     Leaders lift others to have the courage to be creative in their efforts – continually challenging the current way.  Status quo, mediocrity, tried and true, compliancy, and all traditional thinking paradigms must be faced, disturbed and challenged through insight and foresight.   Be part of the change; demonstrate positive change actions and behaviors.  Be honest and communicate to help evolve methods to overcome a lack of knowledge and confidence that allows others to experience the change through engagement.  Take advice, training, and guidance to help you lead the change. Inspire respect by admitting mistakes on the path of change.  Stimulate other’s actions towards the future state one step at a time.

Lift and grow others:

1. See people not as they are today but as their potential, encourage, teach, and lift to their full
2. Learn how to create value, develop, grow, build others
3. Take the people and organization beyond the limits of the science of management to enlightened leadership
4. Not about controlling people, but serving and caring for people
5. Not about being the boss, it is about being present, listening, relationship and community
6. Let go of functional silos, ego, and command and control
7. Not about lighting a flame under individuals, it is about lighting the flame within individuals
8. Requires love to all

     See people not as they are today but as their potential, encourage, teach, and lift to their full potential.  Take the people and organization beyond the limits of management to leadership.  Leadership is not about controlling people but serving and caring for people. Not about being the boss, it is about being present, listening, relationship and community. Learn how to create value, develop, grow, and build others.  Let go of functional silos, ego, and command and control.  Leadership requires love for all.

Lead by example:

1. Walk the talk
2. Demonstrate people first relationship and principles through employee empowerment
3. Be prepared to practically demonstrate what you expect others to do
4. Practice go and see
5. Ensure your actions and words reflect your values and the journey of the organization
6. Spend time on the process of change
7. Listen to people, seek first to understand before making yourself understood
8. Look for ways to inspire people towards the vision
9. Measure your success by the success of those you lead
10. Lead by modeling behavior and actions
11. Lead by creating the experiences desired
12. Move to a significant purpose

     Be prepared to demonstrate what you expect others to do.  Ensure your actions and words reflect the principles and the journey of the organization.  Lead by modeling behavior and actions.  Lead by creating the desired experiences, walk the talk. Practice “go and see”.  Spend time on the process of change.  Listen to individuals; seek first to understand before making yourself understood.  Demonstrate people-first relationships and principles through employee empowerment.  Look for ways to inspire people towards the vision.  Measure your success by the success of those you lead.