ABCs of Solid Leadership
Apr 9
/
Scott Herbst
I hope you've gotten them - one of those out-of-the-blue emails from someone sharing what a positive difference you've made for them. This morning my wife, Kerri, got one of those.
Kerri owns an applied behavior analysis(ABA) clinic. This morning she got an email from an employee who is studying to get her Behavior Analyst credential. Kerri was excited to share it with me. As part of her training, the line-tech is taking a course in organizational behavior management (OBM). She shared that she keeps seeing the things she’s reading and learning about reflected in Kerri’s company. Moreso, she’s been having one of the best work experiences of her life; she couldn't be more delighted with her experience.
I can see why. For the last several months, I’ve been helping Kerri with her operations while her usual person is on maternity leave. Kerri gave me permission to share a few observations about what I see she does that would have her wake up to an email like that. And since my audience is largely behavior analysts, let’s look at it in terms of antecedents, behaviors, and consequences.
Antecedents. Before they even get to work, employees can count on that they will have what they need to do their job. They’ll know where to go. They’ll have the materials they need to do their job. They’ll have clear instructions about how to do it. In a world that is largely chaotic and unpredictable, a little certainty is a breath of fresh air.
Behaviors. People either a) know how to do what they’re expected to do (because they’ve been trained) or b) know they are going to get trained. Kerri has clear expectations for her supervisors about how much and how often they are expected to directly observe their reports, and she’s put systems in place to track whether that’s happening or not. It does take work to create and manage those systems. At the same time, it works to do so.
Consequences. I see so many business owners and managers fall back on magical thinking when it comes to employee performance. It’s along the lines of “They get a paycheck; They should meet the minimum expectations.” The trouble with paychecks is that, mostly, they pay for time, not results. A paycheck gets them in the door. After that, you need systems that will move performance.
Often, leaders and managers fall back on punishment. If you “should” meet expectations, the natural thing to do is to discipline upon failure. The problem with this is that punishment narrows repertoires. Vision shrinks. It creates stress. It kills creativity and, past that, performance tends to rise just to the level to stay out of trouble.
Few people think of putting in a bonus system for performance that meets expectations, but that’s what Kerri has done. She expects that people document their sessions and do it on time. That will earn you a bonus. She expects that people act professionally and communicate respectfully. Doing so earns a bonus. If there’s an expectation, it’s attached to an incentive - beyond the threat of job loss.
And there it is. Three quick things you can pay attention to that, when you act on what you see, will elevate team engagement and, importantly, experience.
ONE MORE THING SHE REALLY WANTED YOU TO KNOW. She wanted me to remind you that she’s taken my courses and she sends her people to my courses. I want to give you fair warning; taking my courses will not teach you how to build systems like this. However, they will empower you to have the conversations that have systems like this work.
Questions about how they’ll empower you? Let’s book a quick chat. You can find my calendar here.
