Ambiguous or unspoken agreements often cause pain.
Lots of it.
This is why more and more organizations are creating agreements for expectations of one another. These aren’t employment agreements—these are behavioral agreements. These agreements, or codes of conduct, help an employee both be easy to manage as well as to bring their personal best.
As a Leadership and Culture Coach, I’m often asked by leaders to “change their people.” They want their team to care more, be more present, more accountable, have greater ownership of their thinking, or have greater performance in a specific area. They think they have a sales problem, an operations problem, an attention-to-detail problem, a whatever-you-want-to-call-it problem. But they don’t. They have only one type of problem.
A Leadership Problem.
They aren’t leading their team or the individual’s on their teams to the desired behaviors. And this brings us back to understanding the expectations of one’s behavior, and also, of course, the attention and investment that leaders make in cultivating their team.
If an individual isn’t performing well, look to their leader.
If an individual is dissatisfied with their job, look to their leader
If an individual is feeling disengaged, look to their leader.
Chances are good their leader isn’t investing in them. But wait a sec—doesn’t the individual have to participate too? Yes, we’re all in this together. Let’s get clear on each person’s role in the system.
There are 3 Jobs All Leaders and Employees Have. Let’s talk about who owns what.
Job #1: Foster Engagement Continuously
Leader’s Job:
Make sure the employee understands the
organization’s mission, vision, values and how they connect to themModel the mission, vision, values every single day, and talk about them, and praise people for honoring them in their behaviorProvide an
Impact Description for each role so everyone knows how they support the mission, vision, values and how they contribute to the organizationPay attention to your people and give them feedback
Employee’s Job:
Understand the company’s mission, vision, values and how you connect to themBe a role model of at least three of the values (let’s assume there are 5-6)Bring ideas for how to improve things, solve problems, reduce stress to your leaderIf any of the above are unclear, ask your leader for helpGive your leader feedback to help them grow their engagement
Job #2: Optimize Execution and Results
Leader’s Job:
Prioritize and explain why we’re doing what and when and the impact it has for us allHelp the team understand how to do it if they get stuck and encourage them to seek inputOptimize
High Value-Added Activities, minimize Low Value-Added ActivitiesUnderstand and communicate dependencies, contingencies, and
needle movers so all are clear—all need to know what could interrupt execution and how to navigate around it and prevent itKeep the communication flowing so everyone can do their best workNote the meta-programs and SBM triggers of your colleagues and team, and communicate in them during stressful times
Employee’s Job:
Think things through, be proactive to ensure priorities are clearBe present in your interactions to save everyone time and ensure things are done right the first timeUnderstand the outcomes your team and leader want and when, and how they align with your organization’s outcomes and those of other teams so contingencies and dependencies are navigated effectivelyIf progress toward outcomes isn’t happening, or if anything’s unclear, ask your leader for helpIf your leader isn’t clearly prioritizing,
give them feedback to help them improve
Job #3: Grow and Learn Together
Leader’s Job:
Help your people map out
Individual Development Plans so they can see how they’ll grow at your organizationWork with Talent/HR to ensure your team has clear, impactful,
ongoing learning plans and opportunitiesHelp your team collaborate with other teams in your organizationGive your team opportunities to shine across the organization and increase their status/visibility to all other leadersIdentify ways the team can be more impactful to the businessEnroll the team in identifying and optimizing process changes that will improve effectiveness
Normalize feedback and make it comfortable vs confrontational
Employee’s Job:
Ask your Leader to advocate for your team individually and collectively with people outside the teamTake responsibility for shortcomings and give credit to team members when they deserve it—share and celebrate winsPoint out opportunities for your leader to be
vocal about individual accomplishments that might not be visible outside the teamEnvision and plan how you specifically you can deliver value to the organization in a specific period of time—and then do itContinuously invite feedback on your performance, and offer it to your leader on their performanceNote the meta-programs and SBM triggers of your colleagues and leader, and communicate in them during stressful times
The Net-Net
Behavioral expectations help everyone get the results they wantBoth leaders and their direct reports must agree to your code of conduct—we’re all in this together
The only type of problem is a Leadership Problem: the leader’s not leading or the direct report isn’t stepping up
This is a rough draft to get you started. What else do you need to add to ensure communication and expectations are clear at your organization? Let me know!
Resources Mentioned:
Impact Description Example: https://bit.ly/39v9drMFeedback Frame infographic:
https://smarttribesinstitute.com/the-feedback-frame/HVA/LVA Tutorial: https://bit.ly/3bDxDRBIndividual Development Plan Example: https://bit.ly/33SxiYm
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