Talking with a friend today got me thinking about these three options, about how we need people doing all three, how important it is that we be doing the right one, given our role/position in the business, and how different are the focus, priorities, skillset and mindset required for each... my thinking at this stage is along these lines:
Working for the business means turning up and doing your work, then clocking off and going home. Your focus is on what YOU need to do, getting it done and getting outta there.
Sometimes, it's all we can, or want, to do! Whether we have great, or limited, technical skills, we come to work to earn the money we need to live our lives beyond work. We do not live to work.
We invest our energy & creativity in our life outside work - either because we need to or because we choose to. Maybe our commitment is to family, friends or social networks, surf, travel, our health, study, our community... it isn't to your business, and it's important, if you're our boss, that you recognise this if you are to avoid frustration and avoidable high turnover.
We do not want to think about what needs doing or how things need to be done differently or how to solve problems or make things better. We do not want extra responsibility, and we do not want subtle or blatant moral sermons on what (according to you) our commitments and priorities should be. We say things like:
- I don't want a promotion. I've got enough responsibility at home.
- Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it.
- It's 3pm - I'm finished. I'm going to pick up the kids.
- Its the weekend - I'm going surfing.
- I'm only here to earn enough money to pay for my next trip.
- I do what I'm paid to do
- I don't want the responsibility
We want/need you to
- be clear about what needs doing, and
- get organised, so that we have what we need, when we need it, to do it right first time without too much hassle
- be fair and pay fair
- build in sufficient flexibility to enable us to meet/enjoy our commitments beyond work
- take responsibility for sorting out business problems (don't expect us to)
- respect our choices (don't should on us)
- relate to us decently (don't be a jerk or an a**hole) and
- show appreciation for our contribution
If you do, we'll probably be cooperative and pleasant, we'll turn up on time and get on with doing the job to the required standard while we're at work.
If you don't, we'll leave as soon as we can... and if we can't leave, because we need the money, then we'll protest in subtle, or not so subtle, ways until we can!
Seems to me that, at some stage(s) in life we nearly all need, or want, simply to work for a business. It also seems to me likely that, in every business, there is probably work that can be done, or jobs that can be designed, for people who want or need to work for a business. Just gotta look...
On the other hand, I reckon that for a business to be competitive and sustainable, every person in a leadership position (ie team leaders, supervisors, managers) need to be working in the business rather than for the business. Team leaders, supervisors or managers who work 'for' the business are, to my mind, the business equivalent of HIV. Deadly.
Working in the business means taking up the mission and vision of the place, championing the business values & goals, energising others and actively shaping the culture. Your focus is on the bigger 'machine' of the organisation, what it's for or about, how what you do fits in with and fuels what everyone else does, and how it might run more smoothly and effectively.
When we work in the business we take responsibility for energy and results, for figuring out what needs doing, for organising ourselves & getting things organised so that they get done, for recognising and solving problems, and for finding better ways to get needed results. Working in the business means more than just doing the work - it's about fueling the work, working on how work is done and it usually means achieving work through other people's efforts and doing whatever it takes to get and keep things working.
The clues that a person is working in the business rather than for the business seem to be:
- thinking about how to improve the way we do business and how to solve business problems, when we're at work and when we're NOT at work
- asking questions
- measuring and monitoring things
- challenging the status quo, poor workmanship, poor results, poor behaviour, poor management and poor leadership
- showing initiative
- coming up with better ways of doing things
- taking responsibility for getting things on the agenda & getting them sorted
- networking and using networks to develop ourselves and to bring new ideas and solutions into the business
- figuring how the work can be done with available resources and without resourcing the business from our people's lives & well being;
- taking responsibility rather than sitting back...
If someone has, or is being considered for, a leadership position I'd be thinking we need them to demonstrate their ability and willingness to work in the business. If they're in a formal leadership role and AREN'T doing this, I reckon our business is in trouble and that we need to confront and develop them to do it, or move them out of that role pretty darn quickly!! As I said, I think leaders working 'for' rather than 'in' the business are deadly to the business.
If someone is NOT in a formal leadership role and is doing all of this, then I'd be wondering how I can, quickly and consistently, show that I notice and appreciate it, remove obstacles, enable and guide them to see results from their efforts... or else I predict that they are going to get mighty frustrated and vote with their feet just as soon as they can!
And if I am a small business owner, I need to make sure that I am not spending so much time working for the business that I have no time to work in the business!
So that brings us to Working on the business...
To me this is about all strategy and sustainability... it's about designing, building, resourcing and growing the business while ensuring it is competitive and sustainable.
It's about designing and aligning the business infrastructure, leadership and culture with the demands and changes in the environment (market, suppliers, community, regulators, competitors etc) AND with the workforce (employees, contractors, associates, partners) to realise, or even exceed, your dream for the business.
The clues that we are working ON the business, rather than IN the business seem to be that we are reflecting deeply alone and in conversations... we are dreaming the future of the business, articulating our dream, networking inside and outside the business and using these networks to clarify and enroll people in our dream and to review, decide and plan:
- what business we are in, need to be in & want to be in
- why we want to be in that business
- what 'success' will look like and feel like
- how we're doing & what impact/influence we're having - and need to have - as we do it
- where we're going, why we're going there & how we'll get there
- what resources we need going forward, who else wants these & how we will secure these
- where and how we can find or create new markets, find and bring in new business, find and bring in talented people
- where talent and leadership are emerging in our business, how we're doing on nurturing and rewarding talent and leadership, and how we will nurture & leverage our talented people and make it worth their while
- how we can run our business/realise our dream without encroaching on people's lives, without damaging safety, health and well being, without eroding their goodwill, integrity or passion and without corrupting our integrity and legacy
- to whom we can safely delegate responsibility going forward
Making time to do this and doing it with the people who are already working IN the business is a significant challenge for small to medium sized business owners... seems to me it's also a key investment...
(I'd like to acknowledge the influence on my thinking of 'The Leadership Pipeline' by Charan, Drotter and Noel)
Labels: leadership, leadership style, sustainability, work-life balance
