Leadership: You get out what you put in

Many people who are taking leadership training are disappointed with the return on their investment in money and time. After the training. they go back to the factory and have trouble grabbing it. It is as if they are surrounded by obstacles to the application of good leadership practices.

Productive leadership occurs when good leadership practices produce results. For this to happen, more than just showing typical leadership skills such as time management, strong interpersonal communication, etc. is needed. There must also be an environment in which leadership qualities are effective.

As we discussed last month, W. Edwards Deming said in 1993: "A bad system beats a good person every time." We can define a system as a group of interdependent activities and resources to fulfill a function. A bad system would have indefinite or poorly defined activities and / or insufficient resources.

Good people include managers, supervisors and staff who want to go to work every day and do a good job. It's most people.

What distinguishes a bad system from a good system? A good system starts at the top. Leaders or leaders need to determine the strategic direction between departments and functions. Departments are groups such as human resources, operations, maintenance, finance, contracts, engineering and marketing. Functions are groups of sub-departments or work centers where actions or activities are carried out in each department. Operations may for example have manufacturing, assembly and packaging functions. A good system needs a strategic direction to serve departments and functions. This contains

• Organizational objectives,
• Policy for departmental / functional roles and responsibilities,
• Expectations of the department or work,
• Resources needed to achieve performance objectives and expectations and to assume roles and responsibilities.

The objectives of the organization answer the question: "What is the organization that exists?" They offer the North Star for decision makers at all levels. Decision-makers must be able to visualize and express how their decision contributes to the organization's goals.

Departmental or functional roles and responsibilities must be clearly stated. This is for two very important reasons. First, it reports on the different activities that need to be done. When roles and responsibilities are explicitly mentioned, gaps and overlaps can be identified and resolved by senior leaders. In addition, middle and lower level managers may be held accountable for their roles and responsibilities.

The second reason that roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined is that they provide a way to identify the resources needed for each department or position. Senior leaders can not expect leaders to grow to a lower level if they do not provide enough resources. The resources provided indicate the level of performance expected by senior executives. In many organizations, responsible managers mention the desired level of performance, but they offer resources to perform at a high level.

When organizational objectives, roles, responsibilities and performance expectations are clear and resources are sufficient, the task is transferred to departmental and functional heads for performance. These middle and lower level leaders are responsible for the efficient and effective use of resources. Effective use of resources means that only the minimum resources required are used to fulfill roles and responsibilities. Effective use of resources means that performance objectives are met or exceeded for an indefinite period. A management system at the department / labor level must take into account:

• Control and stability of daily activities and
• Proactive improvement of daily activities.

In simple terms, managers are responsible for defining responsibilities and providing adequate resources. It is up to department or function heads to use available sources effectively and efficiently. The best leadership training in the world will not budge if the organizational environment does not support leadership practices.