The Power of the Other: The startling effect other people have on you, from the boardroom to the bedroom and beyond-and what to do about it by Henry Cloud

Author:Henry Cloud [Cloud, Henry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-05-03T06:00:00+00:00

Corner Four relationships don’t rescue us. They hold us responsible for our performance. There are standards and there are consequences. Few things are worse for the culture of a team than rewarding or overlooking poor performance. It clearly tells the underachiever, “What you’re doing is good enough,” and tells the others, “Your efforts toward excellence, your care, and your diligence have no value.”

Jim Blanchard, the former lead director of the board of AT&T and CEO of Synovus Financial for thirty-five years, was heralded by Fortune in 1999 for building the “#1 Place to Work in America.” Synovus was one of only a few companies inducted into the Fortune Hall of Fame. I asked him why his company rose to the top of these rankings. He explained that he’s always seen the culture as being just as important as the business plan.

Leading up to this recognition, many important things happened. The leaders established the values and norms of behavior that the company would embody—to care for, develop, respect, appreciate, empower, and help employees—and they were very serious about holding people accountable when they didn’t live up to those cultural values. Blanchard said two things that stood out to me. One was that the leadership team made a vow that they wouldn’t give anyone a boss they wouldn’t work for themselves. The other was that they wouldn’t tolerate anyone being mistreated, bullied, or dealt with in any way that was not respectful and caring. He also told all of his employees that if they were mistreated by a boss, they should try to work it out with him or her first, but if they couldn’t get resolution, they could come directly to him. He told them that if he didn’t deliver on this commitment, they had no reason to ever believe anything else he told them.

Why was this arrangement significant? It made very clear and specific what behaviors were expected. It made clear that it was everyone’s responsibility to build a healthy culture with the values they’d agreed to enforce. Those executives and supervisors who didn’t accept these standards or couldn’t perform in that manner were simply not suited for the job at Synovus. Over the next two years, about two hundred leaders departed Synovus. Some were regular retirees. Some tried, were coached and counseled, but couldn’t fit the cultural requirements. Some tried and were successful in the transition. Some were simply asked to leave. Some left voluntarily because they chose to seek another environment. But the net-net was a dramatic improvement in quality of leadership and the workplace environment. That’s the mark of a culture of true responsibility and accountability. It paid off.

First, it got all personnel in control of themselves. Someone who was treating others badly was given a choice: improve or leave for somewhere more suited to that approach. Such clarity leads to greater self-control. Some exercised it; others chose not to. Once everyone understands the standards to be met and sees what happens when they aren’t, a positive feedback loop drives more learning and growth and produces new levels of achievement.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.