Watch the video below and ask yourself if your leadership drives 10 second results, 1-minute results, or 10-minute results.
To be sure, no projects are perfect before they are submitted. There is no such thing as perfection or “the right time” to submit or release. However, if your teams are pushed beyond their capacity for too long to meet continuously impossible timelines, you may be about to run aground on a reef you can’t see. This type of leadership can damage more than just your brand; it can damage the mentality, drive, and pride of your workforce if they are continually held accountable to impossible standards.
If your people are constantly working 3 months behind schedule and are being forced to submit substandard results or products, a few things are likely happening:
- They are working so hard and tirelessly to keep up with impossible timelines and expectations that their personal lives and families are surely taking the brunt of the effects.
- Symptoms:
- Working on days off
- Little sleep
- Short fused tempers toward family members and coworkers
- Spending time at work on personal emails in order to put out fires at home
- Symptoms:
- They have stopped caring enough to meet impossible standards due to negative impacts on their personal lives- AND they may feel as though their leadership doesn’t care about them as valued team members.
- Symptoms:
- Spending more time on Facebook than working
- Intentionally blowing off requirements and timelines
- Establishing new, low levels of expectations
- Symptoms:
- All the training, acumen, and personal expertise they were hired for in the first place is being wasted and all they have to show for it is submitting substandard products.
- Symptoms:
- Deterioration of skills and standards
- Spending more time on LinkedIn or Glass Door looking for new employment while warning others about their current place of employment
- Symptoms:
If this isn’t enough, the bottom line to all of this is that you may well be sacrificing safety and profits due to inevitable waste, miscalculation, corrective spending, and fines.
The solution:
- Find a balance that allows your workforce to put their talents and passions into action while meeting competitive timelines and standards. This may look like something BETWEEN the 1 and 10- minute drawing.
- Do not over commit
- Do not sacrifice your brand for your legacy
- Ensure the most important assets you have (your people) understand that their safety and effective engagement are your top priority.
Understanding this and employing these tips will help you to avoid the hidden shallow reefs that can sink your ship.
Contact us for help in charting your path! http://www.thetridentapproach.com/contactus/
