The Bee Hive

A recent rerun of the HBO television series “Band of Brothers,” the story of an infantry division in World War Two, got me thinking in new directions. What impressed me the second time I saw the show was how well the men of Easy Company came together and were willing to commit to doing their duty. also evident was their unwillingness to accept poor leadership, as demonstrated by the first line supervisors resigning from the company to force higher command to address the issue of an incompetent company commander.

My thoughts turned to our plants. Do we have people who are committed to their success? Has the current leadership nurtured an environment or culture that encourages people to accept responsibility and performance?

Ask yourself some tough questions. Do your people bring up problems that must be resolved? Do they try to tackle the problems themselves and ask for help when needed? Does your organization have problems everyone knows about but no one is willing to tackle? Does everyone believes senior management doesn’t want to know or won’t believe people underneath them? Does the leadership in your organization monitor morale and the ability of your supervisors and managers to perform effectively?

Here’s a few more. Do your people come to you? If not, why not? Do you go to your superiors and tell them of problems and mistakes you have made or your people have made? If not, why not?

Your organziation’s future and your personal career depend on the people in your organization working together - everyday. It should occur in a positive, proactive way to improve your processes and deliver new higher value products.

It may be turning into a cliche, but it’s still true: The world is a new place. Plants in China, India, and Mexico, all can get the same equipment we have here. They can get the same computer systems. The only difference is the people - which plant has better trained, better motivated, and better-led workforce? That’s the plant that has a future.

How do you begin building a band of borthers in your plant organization? Here are some beginning steps:

• Remember that leadership starts with observing and listening, not with giving orders. You have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth. That should give you an idea of what you should be doing more of. Inexperienced and ineffective leaders talk too much and give too many orders. You can’t give effective orders without understanding where you are, the strengths and weaknesses of your people, and the options you have for action. Only after you know these things can you give directions.
• Remember that your people know a whole lot more than you think and you know a lot less than you believe. You may be surprised by how much your people do know about getting things done, where the problems are, and how to fix them. What is really amazing is how many people in management never know what their people know and never use it.
• Your job is to bring people together, and to give them training, direction, and a plan - then let them go get the job done. Give them an organization that makes sense, a plan that is realistic and doable. Then you make sure they are trained and have the tools to do the job.
• Help them by teaching, mentoring, and clearing problems out of their path. this means avoiding oversupervision. It also means not having too many meetings. If you asked your people how many meetings they attend that are worthwhile, what would their answer be? Your people’s time is your chief asset. Make sure you don’t waste it.

All of these steps depend on you believing that your prime task is to tap the knowledge, experience, wisdom, and commitment of your people. Either you believe in your people or you don’t.

Leaders who believe have outstanding organizations, and those who don’t have organziations that just get by. In today’s world, that’s not good enough.