The Hindu Business Line : Getting results consistently

Every CEO or business owner knows the pain of not achieving targets! Leaders of corporates are savaged by analysts, stock prices and their own boards for not delivering on the numbers.

For small and medium business owners the price of missing business goals is far more personal: traumatic visits from lenders, forgoing family requirements, withholding salary increments, and so on. The cost of elusive results is unconscionably high! Results, the priority

Getting results is therefore the number one priority of every leader. Every initiative, idea, project and plan needs to deliver its stated result. Without that no business can survive. In today’s high-speed environment the leads and lags of yesteryear are absent.

So, every action has to produce its desired result: a result which is specific, measurable, time-defined and challenging.

Organisational results are simply the synergistic outcome of millions of micro actions all delivering their own micro-results. Results are a survival imperative for organisations and careers!

It’s even more complicated than that. Not only must the leader deliver results; he must deliver them consistently, time after time, all the time!

Markets, investors, customers, regulators and indeed all stakeholders are united in their expectation of a lifetime guarantee of results.

So there is simply no place to hide even for a brief respite from achieving targets. No one is prepared to give any quarter for any let up in results even if the track record is one of delivery.

Daunting task

Given this harsh reality, the CEO has a daunting task. First, he has to communicate exactly the results he expects, right down to the minutest detail.

Second, he has to provide all the necessary empowerment if not all the resources. If all resources were available all the time, there would be no need for synergy, innovation and creativity! Resources are by definition scarce and therefore results, however ambitious they may be, will always need to be pursued under extreme pressure.

Cash, staffing, technology and approvals will always only be minimally available. The tightest of deadlines are universal and ubiquitous! That’s where empowerment becomes critical.

Mistakes inevitable

Every manager will need to be furnished with responsibility, authority and accountability to make decisions. In such a high pressure environment mistakes are inevitable and are indeed mandatory milestones for organisational learning and growth.

When mistakes occur, witch-hunts must never be unleashed. Instead, review, debrief, feedback and learning must be the focal points so that the next iteration delivers better results. Unless, of course, questions of honesty and integrity come into play. The non-negotiable baseline must be “no second chance for dishonesty”.

By embodying these principles in action the CEO or business owner creates a culture in which fear, lethargy and bureaucracy are replaced by enthusiasm, excellence and innovation all of which are vital for results.

Getting results is ultimately all about demanding them by creating a conducive environment. That means clarity, focus, nurturing and monitoring while providing freedom to operate. Review and feedback are all-important for course correction.

Everybody needs help and support to rise to the next level; so patience and an ability to mentor are important leadership and organisational attributes. These considerations are paramount even in hypercompetitive environments.

Precipitous action

But beyond a clearly defined point, review and feedback must give way to precipitous action. When such well-defined chances to deliver are missed, hard decisions will indeed need to be made; otherwise the organisation learns that consequences don’t follow tough rhetoric. That is fatal to the organisation!

CEOs and business owners will, unfortunately, have to bite the bullet, overcome personal predilections and dismiss, demote or dis-empower people who are either unwilling or unable to deliver results.

Removing people is the toughest job in the CEO’s portfolio. It is also among the most important and most painful. Since such a decision creates tsunamis in the lives of people it has to be made after much thought and analysis of consequences. Not only must the decision be fair and balanced, it must also seen to be so.

In the end, the leader must go by what is good for the organisation and its people.

Leaders can take solace in Peter Drucker’s famous declaration that it’s cruel to retain non-performers; it’s cruel to the person concerned because of the constant humiliation and it’s cruel to the organisation because of the continuous drain on resources.

Walking the fine line

Is one person’s inability to deliver endangering the entire team? If so, does this person have the potential to turnaround quickly? If not, how quickly can he be removed?

How can the impact on his future be minimised, if not entirely protected? Who can take over and when?

What positive lessons can the team learn from the removal? Can the blow be softened by sensitive and yet clear communication? These are questions that cannot be shirked!

Getting results consistently entails making these tough calls. The CEO or business owner will always walk the fine line between nurturing and pruning. If he’s done the due diligence he’ll be revered even when he removes deadwood. That’s because the true leader’s character and competence are always above and beyond reproach; he’s earned respect by being fair, transparent, encouraging and clear in everything he does.

Like an expert gardener grows the best roses by tending to his flowerbed carefully, the leader tends to his team and creates an environment that produces breathtaking results.

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