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I had a new employee ask me "what do you want?" and it made me feel like I was the company and to many employees I think that leadership is a representative of the company.  As much as I think I influence outcomes I don't feel like leaders own the company but rather we're stewards of the company goals.  The point of the email is to encourage my team to think of themselves as a company driver and not being one that is driven by the company. 
 
I wonder if there were others that had similar experiences or if you had any thing to add.
 
I sent this as an email to my team yesterday:

When given the opportunity to make a decision do you ask yourself what does my leader want me to do?

I say that the order by which all decisions (at work) are made should be as follows:  this means that when you make a decision this list should be met in whole or at least to the recipient of the action.

1. You
2. Company
3. Customer
4. Team
5. Leadership

If we attached brief effects or key drivers of each they would look like this:

1. Ethical / Moral / Esteem
2. Who signs your check
3. Who is the main recipient of your work
4.  Who helps and deals with the way you work or results of your work
5. Who helps you facilitate your work effectively

I find it interesting that we often feel as if our leaderships "owns" us.  We work for a large company and the leaders are not the main recipients.  If this list is not in alignment it is your own responsibility to put it back.  I am very interested in your opinion so please reply to all and share.

 

marqix's picture

Hi,

I would rather go for "client first, firm second, self third", although this would apply more to service/consulting personnel.

Best regards,
marqix

mmann's picture
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Jackson,

I'm thinking this is too linear for me.  For example, the individual may be at the top of the list for the moral and ethical aspects of the decision, but the individual comes back into the decision later with work/life balance. 

Tactical decisions may have different dimensions altogether from those of a strategic nature.  Instead of a numbered list, the imagery I use is one of a brilliant cut diamond.  Every boundary condition has a cut, clarity, color, and carat. 

Decisions, as defined by Drucker, have to include what, who, when, and how communicated.  Again, I suspect the prioritized list of stakeholders will vary for each of these dimensions of decision making.

I suggest reading through Drucker's "Effective Executive" Chapter 6: The Elements of Decision-making.

--Michael

japanexpert's picture

Hi Jackson,

I don't know how many people you sent the email to, or what the response rate was, because you don't mention it, but this seems like a topic for a one on one, not an email.  If you sent it prior to a one on one meeting great.  But this is way too deep for email.

I make decisions based on what regulations and company policies allow me to make.  I would hope my directs would do the same.  Thank you for bringing it up, it will be on my list of questions for my one on ones this week.

Good luck with that email.

Donald Nordeng

 

 

 

 

 

japanexpert's picture

Hi Jackson,

I don't know how many people you sent the email to, or what the response rate was, because you don't mention it, but this seems like a topic for a one on one, not an email.  If you sent it prior to a one on one meeting great.  But this is way too deep for email.

I make decisions based on what regulations and company policies allow me to make.  I would hope my directs would do the same.  Thank you for bringing it up, it will be on my list of questions for my one on ones this week.

Good luck with that email.

Donald Nordeng

 

 

 

 

 

Jazzman's picture
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You are the main representative of the company to your employees.  You said it well in that leaders don't own the company but are stewards of the companies goals.  The owners have entrusted you (directly or delegated) to act in their interests with the responsibility to move forward the goals of the organization.

Presenting the list this way allows the reader to infer a hierarchy ("You" being most important, "Leadership" least important).  I also don't think you intended to imply the hierarchy.  Along with what Donald said, this could be a problem because of communication via e-mail.  If your staff is not considering the different stakeholders list needed, this model or one like it could help guide them.  However, I would address specific behaviors (good and bad) with feedback and during O3s.

-Jazz

 

Jazzman's picture
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Looking at this topic again, I realized by your subject heading that you did mean to imply a hierarchy.  Creating a set hieracrhy for decision making like that gives the decision maker a false sense of support and lack of accountability.  Bottom line is that those are all good factors for making a decision, but which factor is more important depends case-by-case.  

Real-life example, I have a personal moral ethos that says I don't want to bother people during their time off who aren't on call; however, the customer had an unexpected severe outage that needed all hands on deck...not just those who happened to be on-call or on the clock.  In this case a customer's needs took precendent over individual ethics.  There's examples for any one out-weighing any other.