actively disengaged from their work.”
Imagine extrapolating this number to include public-sector workers at all levels of the government (federal, state, and local) and not-for-profit organizations in countries around the world. Even a conservative figure suggests millions of people like Tom—each one unique, with talent, skill, and passion, and great contributions to make—are mentally and emotionally retired.
When Dr. Stephen R. Covey spoke to his audiences around the globe, he would always ask, “How many of you honestly believe that the vast majority of the people in your organization possess more intelligence, talent, capability, creativity, and resourcefulness than their present jobs require or even allow?” In every case, nearly every hand went up.
“How many of you honestly believe that the vast majority
of the people in your organization possess more intelligence, talent, capability, creativity, and resourcefulness than their present jobs require
or even allow?”
—Stephen R. Covey
Why is this so? Because too many leaders don’t know how to engage people. When leaders don’t know exactly how to do something, they can default to the things they do know how to do—budget, project management, operations, etc. Oftentimes in a highly regulated environment, these are also the things that are most constrained and, ultimately, especially in the case of budget, not in a leader’s Circle of Influence®. A leader’s job is to establish an operating system that allows people to contribute their very best, consistently and compellingly. And because intentionally building and maintaining a winning culture is completely within a leader’s Circle of Influence, this is also his or her most powerful lever for achieving results.
The Government Executive Media Group explains that the research conducted by Gallup, along with the results of the PPS Best Places to Work rankings, clearly show that leaders play a key role in growing employee engagement, empowerment, and appreciation. Unfortunately, Government Executive also reports that empowerment ranks an abysmal 43.8 out of 100 among government leaders. Some cast the issue aside, arguing that the low score is a function of the unique challenges to government organizations, which include pay, policies, and systems. There is some truth to this claim. The systems can be very challenging at times; you can’t just show a poor performer the door. Others suggest that the score is the result of the growing competitive cauldron in the public sector—outside pressures, diminishing resources, and increased scrutiny.
True, some of these leadership challenges are unique to the idiosyncrasies of the public sector. Engaging people is a tough job in the public sector, but it’s a challenge in the private sector as well. According to a survey on global CEO performance by Stanford University’s Center for Leadership Development and Research, engaging people is rated the “top weakness” of CEOs. Some leaders, like Tom’s boss, actively discourage people. Mostly, though, they just don’t have the skill to lead people. After reviewing the Stanford study, Forbes Magazine concluded that “CEOs are doing a lousy job when it comes to people management.”7
Leaders know they’re not doing a good job managing their people, and it troubles them. They need to capture the hearts and minds of their people to build a team like TfL’s Bakerloo Line. It’s the biggest job they have, but they don’t know how to do it. And it’s not just a senior leader’s problem; leaders at all levels struggle with it, particularly those who are new in their supervisory roles.
Let’s face it, there is no outbreak of winning cultures in the public sector. While culture makes all the difference, too many organizations leave building their culture to chance. We’re reminded of the quote by acclaimed management expert Peter Drucker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Understanding this is key to creating a successful organization.
Being Deliberate in Building Culture
How much time and energy do we devote to strategic plans and initiatives, metrics, goals, and project planning? Look around your office. Do you have posters announcing goals, email signature blocks attesting to the newest initiative, and strategic plans with your organization’s acronym emblazoned across the cover?
But have you ever forgotten to address culture during a key strategic shift? Ever experienced a culture pushing back on a strategy or a change-management initiative? We recall hearing a long-term devoted public servant speaking to her team in the hallway after a new political leader’s election and inspiring “call to action” speech. She said, “Be respectful, and know that we can wait out any of this leader’s strategies…we’ve done it before and we can do it again.” That’s culture pushing back. People cross their arms with the intent of waiting things out—and the “meeting after the meeting” undermines all of your well-intended efforts.
A great culture must be leader-led, designed intentionally, and have an established framework of behaviors and language that aligns the performance of everyone in the organization. Everyone must know how to win and fully understand the why behind the what. It is not enough to simply state the path forward; a great leader must deliberately invite every person into that way forward. Everyone must lead. Can you imagine if everyone in your organization behaved like a leader? What results could you achieve?
A great culture must be leader-led, designed intentionally, and have an established framework of behaviors and language that aligns the performance of everyone in the organization.
That’s the reason for this book. The Ultimate Mission Essential for public-sector organizations is the paradigm that everyone on your team should be a leader. Too many see leadership as a title. But leadership is a choice, not just a position. This doesn’t mean the organizational chart is thrown out the window; it simply means all people take ownership of ensuring success.
Leadership is a choice, not just a position.
The first step is adopting the mindset that everyone on your team can lead. It’s your job to make them leaders and to inspire them to embrace their roles. This happens by establishing a framework (or an operating system, which we’ll discuss in Chapter 4) for getting the job done effectively. This framework should be ubiquitous and not role-specific. It demands that leaders “show up” and model the culture, rather than talk about it in generic terms (or worse yet, “talk at” team members about it). It will develop high-character and high-competence leaders at every level of the organization. It will give everyone a common language and a set of behaviors they can depend on as they work to achieve results year after year.
The People Behind the Activities
You and your people are your organization’s only sustainable competitive advantage. No matter which segment of the public sector you work in, when the people quit work for the night, your competitive advantage quits too. The brains of a contributor like Tom can shut down anytime, even during work hours. You might say, “What about our mission? organizational structure? internal rewards program? work processes? computer systems? Aren’t they advantages that will overcome the public sector’s growing competitive cauldron?”
Obviously, competitive advantages can come from many sources, but the bottom line is that none of those advantages exist apart from what people actually do. Your mission, your structure, your rewards programs—whatever your resources and capabilities—are all the product of people working together. If they don’t work well, your advantage is gone.
An organization can have a number of unique aspects, but if people don’t do the things needed to leverage them, sustain them, and live up to them, they will evaporate. Your organization may have well-refined processes, but if your people couldn’t care less about maintaining them, the whole thing is a house of cards. The behavior of your people is the ultimate source of your competitive advantage.
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