Published
Articles
Originally
Published in The Business Journal of CNY.
It
Doesn't Work
(Accountability without Authority)
People will
never allow themselves to be held accountable (in life, or in business
(although we will contain ourselves to business here); that is hard
enough to figure out; but there are remarkable similarities), unless
they feel that they control their own destiny to various degrees.
In order to
feel accountable, they need to feel a part of the success, that
they were/are involved, and have the ability to fail, and make corrections
as necessary in mid-course. Many people really do want to "champion"
their own projects, and accept reward or blame.
But they will
always resist the "half-way syndrome" where they feel
they will get the blame but not the credit. This is a sure lose-lose
scenario.
Managers and
owners are always better off (with these type of people) to allow
them the flexibility of creativeness, the ability to fail in a controlled
environment, and the feeling that they are important, and trusted.
Don't misunderstand,
you will always be in the background during this process. Just deeper
background than you may originally envision. I would be foolish
to expect you to let go totally. But you would be foolish to not
try, and to begin the process, as soon as possible. The quicker
you start, the quicker you grow.
The vast majority
of these people really do not want full authority anyway. They like
the escape net of having you there (or they would already own their
own businesses: they are not ready for that yet), but they want
the perception that they do, and the perception of trust. You need
to give them this, honestly, to get back what you want.
Under the right
operating circumstances, this system will rarely fail. It will hit
road blocks and bumps, have its ups and downs, maybe even more failures
than successes in the beginning, but will generally work well when
all sides understand when to give and when to take, and when to
help and when to step back when the urge to step-in is overwhelming.
It must be totally
clear to the person "in charge', and all others in the company
and outside (as necessary), that that person assigned the task has
the authority and the responsibility for that project. As soon as
that person, or more importantly, outside people, perceive that
it is a "false authority", the project will fail with
that person heading it up. It will be back in your lap, where you
tried to get it away from.
As small businesses
grow, you have to force yourself to let go and delegate specific
tasks to others who you feel are capable, or can be developed into
being capable, of doing those tasks. If you have no one like that,
please refer to my prior article on delegation (www.dhoppe.com/vinfo_articles.html).
Otherwise, you as the owner will never grow, or exhaust yourself
and your resources beyond your abilities to run your company successfully.
Neither of these is an acceptable answer.
People who thrive
on responsibility (and do not shirk from accountability) are most
likely your future business leaders. You will find yourself
delegating more and more to these type of people, as long as it
works for both sides and all parties involved, and stays a win-win
situation.
But…. The
best way to mess up this scenario is to miss the second half of
the equation, the authority part. Remember that you have to give
to get, and unless that person feels autonomous (but with a (sometimes
silent) support system, very important), he will likely not fulfill
the task in the best way.
Not giving authority
is the same as saying "I don't trust you". You know you
will feel skeptical on the inside in this regard, and that is normal,
but, if it shows, it will defeat the purpose. There will be mistakes,
outright failures, and retrenching periods, but you need to bite
your tongue, let them pass, as long as you feel there is long-term
movement forward. Consider it a better investment than capital expenditures
that you might routinely make and not even take as seriously.
This is how
you grow your company. You learn it all yourself, and than you slowly
let go, in a controlled basis, assuring that acceptable standards
of quality, quantity, and progress are reached. You NEVER let your
business go backwards. Rather you take a slower growth curve to
achieve longer-term success.
You realize
that in order to grow (the company, and more importantly you), letting
go is necessary. You have to plan from day one for people to let
go to, through trial an error periods, sometimes rollercoaster periods,
depending on your ability to make choices, luck, the methods you
use to let go effectively, and your foresight in this entire process.
The people you
select need to be nurtured during this ongoing, forever period,
pampered and sometimes babied through the process, but the rewards
of freeing your time more than offset the investment.
Think back to
when you did projects for the first time. Did you succeed every
time? Were there bumps in the road, and outright errors. What makes
you think you have a right to expect more from others who are not
owners and not playing with their own money and futures?
You most likely
did not have the benefit of a you to hold your hand during that
process. You were on your own, to sink or swim. If picked properly,
and nurtured properly, the people selected should actually have
a better chance to succeed than you did. Wouldn't that be good for
you?
The critical
path to success is your willingness to give before you get, to show
patience, to accept failure as part of the chain of success, and
most importantly, to give your time freely, knowing that you are
investing in a good asset for your company.
The most common
cause of small business failures I see, are owners who refute and
refuse this process, have egos and believe that no one can do what
they can do, and therefore end up working long, unproductive hours
on projects that should be delegated because it is time, and missing
doing the new, additional duties that their expanded roles now call
for them to do, because they foolishly feel they do not have time.
It is never
too early to plan for the future of your company, beginning at day
one. Any good business plan will consider this eventuality, and
look at each new added body as a designee for something in the future,
even if it is 3-5 years down the road. Grooming people can never
come too early.
Back to giving
out responsibility, remember to also give of the corresponding authority,
or you will not get ahead, and not grow. Invest wisely in your company,
and let go in a controlled, well thought out manner. You win!
Dennis Hoppe is President of Change Management Implementation, Inc. in Brockport, NY. He has been a small business advisor to owners of hundreds of companies since 1989. Visit his web sites at www.dhoppe.com and www.hmcexecutivecoaching.com, or call him at 800-724-3525.
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