Step One: Are we a management team?

NOTE: Last month I published a conversation with Skip Kapur about turning a business into a high performance organization. This month we continue the discussion, but we're going further in-depth to explore more of the nuances. Mr. Kapur's methodology uses six steps to transform a business to use his proven high performance model. The first starts at the top—your leader and your management “team.” Read on…

—M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas, Process Effectiveness Consultant

“In step 1, you have to answer the question, ‘Are we a management team or are we a collection of department heads that report to the same person?’”—Skip Kapur

RY: I suppose a management team starts with its leadership. Where does a leader begin?

SK: First, they understand there is a difference between management and leadership. Management is concerned more with execution, paying attention to getting the work done. Leadership is more visionary and nurturing, helping to craft the long-term view and steering in that direction.
Excellent leaders have some fundamental responsibilities. The first is to build a management team that they can count on. From the very first day they have to build this team—not the best players, but the players who best play together. A management team, by its very definition, must be composed of people who all have input to developing the business solutions and decisions at hand.

RY: What is the difference between a management team, and a “bunch of department heads” that report to a single person?

SK: A team is a group of individuals focused on a common goal. An effective team is small—three to seven people—and is consensus driven. It has clear roles, and everyone on the team acknowledges those roles. The leader knows clearly that he or she is never the owner of initiatives, and ensures that the true owner of each initiative is established and recognized by all.

Your team must be carefully selected and must include a mixture of people with complementary strengths. Some are operational, some are strategic, and some are people oriented. True leaders strive to make sure that all significant decisions are made through consensus resulting from a shared input from the team members.

RY: What are some other signs of a good leader?

SK: When a leader recruits new members to their team, they won't just interview and select. They make sure that all existing members have a voice in the selection of the new member. Each new member changes the dynamics of an existing team, for better or for worse.

Maintaining a management team is a continuous affair. You have to make sure that the right people are on the team at all times. You have to have the guts to drop people from time to time. The number one reason for dropping a person is because of their inability to work as part of the team. The number two reason for dropping a person is because they're not carrying their weight. A good leader tries at all costs to define the roles on the management team based upon the competencies of the people, rather than trying to fit people in tightly pre-defined slots. These are tough and insightful decisions that a good leader can make.

RY: Where do Vision and Mission come in? What roles do these concepts play in this scenario?

SK: Vision really falls in the leader's realm. The leader must be enough of a visionary to articulate a vision, but also enough of a manager to carry it through to fruition. The Vision tells us where we ultimately want to be, and the leader must identify a clear owner for major initiatives, hold the owners accountable, and help remove obstacles.

The Mission focuses the organization more explicitly on what it is doing now. Being more tactical in nature, it directly involves the team in its initial formulation and execution.

RY: At the management team level, how does discipline play a role?

SK: If you really have a management team, getting people to participate is a non-issue. The team is a forum where they can get help from their peers and boss. The environment is safe and secure, not cutthroat. Meetings are typically short, held regularly (two or three times a week). The discipline of regular meetings, participation, etc., ensures that everyone gives input. This input is not passive or suggested, it is required to be a part of the team. It is not acceptable to have a team member who regularly misses their participation in the team.

RY: Is there a process to achieve “buy-in” and alignment within the management team? What do you do with holdouts?

SK: Buy-in to the management team philosophy is essential. But if a member of the team is not already bought into the concept, and the role they play within it, they have no business being there. Again, t he key is to construct the team of individuals who will take their role seriously. “Developing” buy-in is not a problem because the hold-outs are asked to leave, or are not hired in the first place.

RY: So, there is a difference between leadership and management, and the leader must be comfortable with both. The most effective team is a consensus-driven group of three to seven people, each with clear roles, operating in an environment of openness, customer focus, teamwork, and with a long term perspective. Did I sum that up right?

SK: Yes, and the leader must have the vision (leadership) to see the long term, and the discipline to carry it out (management)—the ability to continue to aim for the goal and not abandon it because something the team tried didn't work out. It takes time before the team reaches a point where it can excel.

RY: So what will we talk about next time?

SK: We've set the stage. Next time we' ll talk about how to execute in a very disciplined manner. Now that you have this great team—and a mindset—we' ll learn how to execute with excellence.

© 2002 Sunil “Skip” Kapur and M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas
InterDimension Strategies Inc.