The Survival Benefits of Social Coordination”

I recently read an article, An Evolutionary View-What Followers Want from Their Leaders, that explains the three characteristics dating back to the ancient tribes that every follower needs from their leader.

Roughly two million years ago, the hunter-gather living style did not have formal leadership roles.  With tribal-warfare being the major cause of death during the Old Stone Age, tribes needed to establish leadership to survive and that’s where social coordination was formed.

“Social coordination is best facilitated by a decision-making process in which one individual initiates a plan and others agree to pursue it…In this way, leadership evolved as a resource for group success and survival”

The following explains the three core qualities that every tribe follower needed from their leader:

1. Choosing when and where to move
2. Peacemaking within the group
3. Defending against rival groups

Leadership still continues to shape around the core values (along with many others) that will create inspiring leaders:

1. Direction: When your followers aren’t sure what path they should go down
2. Peacemaking: When your followers are having issues with other individuals in the group
3. Protection: When your followers are threatened by competition or even bad luck

The article was fascinating because it illustrates that for the past 2.5 million years the needs of followers have not changed.

With these three basic needs in mind, the authors want you to reflect on your leadership values and ask yourself one question: Why would anyone follow me?”

For more information on An Evolutionary View-What Followers Want from Their Leaders: http://www.hoganassessments.com/sites/default/files/What%20Followers%20Want.doc.pdf

I recently spoke with a prospect (CEO) on the phone who was complaining about the lack of engagement with his Senior VP’s/Sales Managers. He said he had seven of them, but only one was really performing sufficiently.

That means 85% of his management team are losing. I asked him what he had done about it, and aside from “calling them on the carpet” or “writing them up,” he had done nothing. He said that even though they weren’t performing, he didn’t want to lose them to a competitor.

When will we learn to begin expecting bigger things from people?

Since when do we assume that people intend to behave improperly and get mediocre results? Do we really think that’s their hidden purpose, is to be average? Of course we don’t.

The problem is that people just don’t know how to be superior—how to excel—how to be successful—how to take their game up five levels.

The game is changing, and the skills have to change, too. When my CEO/prospect friend said that he didn’t want to let them go, I challenged him (and probably caused him never to call me back again) to determine what skills his people needed—to bring in experts to teach them those skills.

Here are the five skills I think business development/VPs need to have:

1. Marketing and Lead Generation – Why should these people not be experts at this? Do they listen to teleseminars on the topic; do they go to conferences on the topic; do they read books on the topic; do they watch videos on the topic? When’s the last time you saw a marketing book circulating around the office, with ideas in it marked up, scratched up, dog-eared, highlighted? Ever?

2. Writing – Since when are cohesive thoughts on paper not important? Do your VPs of sales know how to write a compelling sales letter; do they know how to write copy for the web; do they know how to write the intro to an audio piece that might generate thousands of leads for your company?

Or are they content to outsource that to some ad agency who has no soul for the product and doesn’t care about your product and sales, anyway?

3. Strategic Alliances – The VP’s in your organization should understand strategic alliances. Do they take courses in it; do they ask best practices of other people in your company or other firms in your industry; do they have a plan for strategic alliances, or do they do what most companies do—let it come to them?

4. Pain Finding Skills – Are your VPs really good at selling? Do they really understand a problem orientation to professional sales? Or are they merely chasing a number for quota and putting pressure on the salespeople to “get the job done; time’s running out”?

You (or your VP of sales) had better be your best salesperson, or he probably can’t coach his people to do the same.

5. Inspirational Leaders – Do your people go to school to learn to be inspirational leaders; do they read books on the topic; do they study great inspirational leaders like Churchill, Roosevelt and some of the amazing generals in the civil war?

Is there a continuous conversation on how to be more inspirational to your team? If not, why not? Do we detest that conversation because it reveals flaws in the ointment, or do we just not think it’s that important?

Do we think that “we hire seasoned veterans; it’s up to them to be inspired and get out of bed in the morning”? Good luck with that attitude.

If your people aren’t engaged (or are failing), it’s your problem.

I also submit that if you think coaching is for weaklings and losers, then you’re about ready to get your lunch eaten by organizations that see their human capital as THE differential advantage in their market.

Don’t settle for little when the world is abundant and aiming big is a necessity for you.

I ask this rhetorical question because it’s a question my firm wrestles with. Are we creating an atmosphere that is ripe for personal growth, creativity, high performance and success?

In my work at the Institute with companies far and wide, I must tell you the answer is typically “NO.” And I know you’ll say, “Well that’s them. That’s certainly not my company.” Isn’t it? How would you know? Are you considered a cool place to work?

As usual, I have a check list — this one very short — of some problems most companies have that make your place ‘uncool‘ and probably not inspiring for the people who work there. And a drag on both your top and bottom lines. No insinuation here. Just asking some tough questions so you can take corrective action. 

1. Too Much Focus On Money

This happens naturally when things get tough. You forget about working on improving the product–and on serving the customer. And you start worrying too much about margin. You ‘old thinkers’ will disagree, but working on the value of the deliverable inspires people–and creates great margin. At your Exec Retreats, how much time do you spend on making the customer experience better? Does your Business Plan for 2009 have a section on Skill Improvement for your people?

2. Too Many Behavioral Issues

This doesn’t mean dysfunctional issues like harassment and misconduct. It means a more subtle form of mis-behavior. It’s when your leaders and managers don’t inspire your people. It’s when working at our company isn’t a blessing anymore. It’s a job. It’s when there’s too much attention on fixing ‘people problems’ and not enough energy on serving customers. It’s when leaders interpersonal sensitivity is so low it creates tedium in the workplace. It’s when triangulation (gossiping) rules.

3. No Personal Development

It’s a shame how much time and effort companies put into professional training and development. Tom Peters, in one of his recent speeches, quotes 26 hours / year on average that an employee spends in training. Managers? You should be working on yourself 5% of the time. (That’s 100 hours/year–8 hours / month).

“But, Bill, I don’t have time for that. I’m busy as hell.” And as my CEO friend Dave Harding says, “We never have time to do it right. But we always have time to do it over.”

Before you make excuses like “not enough time,” ask yourself the question, “Am I undergoing a massive personal growth spurt?” Or, “Are my people coming to me saying, ‘Wow I want more of that training.?’ If not, then you know the answer. You’re not giving your people enough development.

Bottom Line: “Are you a cool place to work?” “Are you creating an atmosphere that is inspiring, creative and motivating?” Check out your top line revenue number. If it isn’t strong, stop blaming outside sources (government, economy, credit crunch). And start looking in the mirror for your best future. It’s there. You just have to look.

What works is leading. Leading a (relatively) small group of people. Taking them somewhere they’d like to go. Connecting them to one another. -Seth Godin

We totally agree. You know, we spend tons of hours in the work space–80,000 over our working lives (40 years at 2200hrs/year). So we literally GIVE our lives to our work. You as a leader do. And your people do as well.

Are Your People Rewarded?

Now, while Seth is talking marketing, he IS talking about “Tribes” of people and how they can connect to get things done-and the intrinsic rewards of that. Are your people rewarded by anything other than paychecks? Don’t answer that for them. Go ask them.

We find in our work that people are motivated by very different things. It could be commerce ($) or power, or recognition or tradition on other values. And if you aren’t rewarding them in those areas of ‘value’ then you aren’t doing your job.

Before you think this’ll ‘cost you money,’ you’d best think again. Think of how many leaders create compensation plans with the belief that “money motivates.” Yes, it motivates some. But not all.

By looking at what motivates people you can do two things: 1) find out how to create an atmosphere where they bring their best every day, and 2) get the most out of your investment in them.