ROOT CAUSES OF INDIRECT COSTS
Organizations who are struggling cannot stop the excessive turnover and unnecessary workloads by doing the same things with the same people that got them where they are today. Change is necessary. More than likely, a lack of any apparent talent magnet has reduced you to hiring the bottom of the barrel so to speak. People don’t quit good companies, they quit poor managers. “You can make a B player an A player but you can never make a C player an A or B player” Jack Welch, CEO/GE. A leader focuses on accomplishments where the manager in disguise associates success with affiliations and perceptions. Not all managers can lead but all leaders can manage.
The following chart summarizes the differences between leaders and managers in disguise. Leaders Managers in Disguise • earn respect • earn contempt • motivate • discourage • create more leaders • create followers • hold themselves accountable • blame others • give • take • are proactive • are reactive • communicate openly • are secretive • say we • say I • are disciplined • are undisciplined • are people focused • are work focused • are inclusive • exclude • inspire • command • are competent • are reckless
Definitions:
Leadership: The art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. ... He or she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and leadership skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction.
Manager: Someone who formally leads individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared goals. Responsibilities of the manager include planning, directing, monitoring and evaluating the work of one or more individuals.
Managers-In-Disguise: A manager in a position of authority who has no apparent leadership skills nor cares to learn any. It is a manager who lives in fear of losing his or her position yet refuses to step aside for the greater good of all affected.
C players: Employees at all levels, including management who aren’t necessarily bad people, they’re just not as passionate about what the organization is doing as you, your team and your customers need them to be.
Root causes of indirect costs:
1. High turnover rate of the A and B players:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
2. Low turnover rate of C players:
Cause: managers in disguise and/or C players in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills who can’t recognize a C player and wouldn’t know how to properly manage them if they did recognize one
3. Voluntary quit of the wrong people (A and B players):
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority with no end in sight, leading to an inexperienced work force with no opportunity to separate the organization from its competition or gain market share
4. No exit interviews from any manager:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority ensuring nobody knows the real reasons why employees are quitting, especially senior management and HR, no data to address root cause, only spin, misinformation, blaming others, covering up, cycle repeating itself etc.
5. Not enough A players in positions of authority:
Cause: too many managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
6. Poor hiring technique:
Cause: managers in disguise and/or C players in positions of authority in charge of hiring, conducting interviews and/or performance evaluations and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills, buddy system, hiring first person who gets beyond HR and not holding out for the best
7. Loss of hiring talent magnet:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority who nobody wants to work for, poor reputation in particular industry
8. No constant message with winning language from everyone:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
9. Lack of succession training:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority using knowledge as power against employees and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
10. Wrong people/C players on the bus:
Cause: managers in disguise and/or C players in positions of authority
11. A and B players in wrong seats on the bus:
Cause: managers in disguise and/or C players in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
12. Lack of enforcement:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
13. Status-Quo is acceptable:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
14. Procrastination is abundant:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority
15. Poor culture:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority with no end in sight
16. Lack of teamwork:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
17. Expectations are a one way street:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority
18. Quality incidents:
Cause: poor hiring technique, managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills, C players on the bus, wrong Subject Matter Experts on the SME contact list, managers in disguise in positions of authority who as it turns out are the last people on the bus to be asked advice by field employees when their struggling
19. Safety incidents:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills, poor hiring technique, C players on the bus driving down motivation, creativity, pro-activity, quality, productivity, sapping the inspiration right out of A and B players
20. Poor customer experience:
Cause: lack of communication between departments on abilities to meet customer expectations, managers in disguise in positions of authority, C players on the bus
21. Absence of leadership training for all employees:
Cause: managers in disguise and/or C players in positions of authority (Root of all problems)
22. Lack of computer software training for office personnel:
Cause: managers in disguise in positions of authority and/or managers in positions of authority without any leadership skills
Note: One through twenty-two is purposefully focused on the lack leadership in management, not production or field employees. Reason being, until one through twenty-two is addressed, no one knows the available power and potential the workforce has to offer you or your customers.
“Motivation is easy, get rid of the unmotivated” Lou Holtz
The managers in disguise as leaders, who do not possess nor care to possess any leadership skills and refuse to step aside for the greater good, are the root cause of the demise of most organizations. By directly addressing these indirect costs, organizations can reduce every department’s unnecessary workloads, ensuring happiness, creativity, productivity, quality, safety, as well as achieve the business advantage they seek. All of the indirect costs and unnecessary workloads associated with having “Managers-In-Disguise” and “C players” on the bus, go away when leadership is introduced into the Organization.
A concerted effort to meet the teams expectations by addressing who’s on the bus, who’s in the right seats and who’s off the bus all together will increase profits as performance metrics like creativity, productivity and teamwork increase. The “Mastermind Principle” is where you surround yourself with quality people who can do what you can’t and then getting out of their way and letting them get to doing what you hired them to do. The Mastermind Principle cannot work without complete teamwork.
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