Never Sanction Incompetence
This post’s great advice comes from Mike Vance, author of the book, Think Out of the Box. Vance worked for Disney back in the day (and when I say “he worked for Disney” I mean he worked for and with THE Walt Disney, himself). Walt taught Mike all about creativity and innovation. And Mike learned this principle of creativity firsthand: you cannot be creative in an environment that tolerates incompetence.
As a leader, you must hold your people accountable for competent work. That is basic to everything you do as a leader, manager, or supervisor. In my training seminars, I tell my management students: Your #1 job as a manager is to help your people succeed. If your people are failing, then you are responsible to do something about it!
Up Close and Personal
One of my own coaching clients is experiencing the frustration of staff members who are not performing adequately. At her level of responsibility, she simply cannot tolerate shabby performance. She raised the thorny question: What do I do when I can’t trust my own team members to do their jobs?
She only has two alternatives: to coach them to better performance, or to replace them.
She is more than willing to help them if she can. Her concern at this point is whether they even have the potential to perform at a higher level. THAT IS THE DIFFICULT DECISION THAT EVERY LEADER FACES. If you lack the confidence that one of your team members is able to grow, develop, perform… then you only have one option: to replace them!
What is best for the failing team member? It might be…
- Reassignment – to a different role or other tasks;
- Transfer – to a different team and a different team leader; or…
- Termination – to end the stress and pressure of an irredeemable situation.
Whatever the consequences, you must ACT.
If you allow incompetence in your ranks, EVERYONE LOSES.
- YOUR TEAM loses because it will never perform at its best;
- THE ORGANIZATION loses because it will never receive the effective performance it needs from your team; and
- The INCOMPETENT WORKER loses because they are “stuck” in failure mode.
If you are faced with incompetence in YOUR ranks, you must take action!
If you want more great ideas for better leadership and management, stay tuned to this blog—I promise to continue to share the kind of insightful tips and practical tools that will keep you growing and developing and…getting better!
Until next time… Yours for better leaders and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke – “The Boss Doctor” ™ helping you to BE a better boss and to HAVE a better boss!
