The 3 T’s- Tools, Train, and Trust

Years ago I was fortunate enough to be a part of a great crew aboard the best Submarine ever, the USS PARCHE.  As stories of our crew were often embellished, it was true that we had some of the finest Submariners ever.  With that being said, we also had bright young men, who maybe only six months before were working on their family farm in Iowa, probably having never been outside their county limits.  Now, they find themselves on a multibillion dollar platform whose complexity rivals that of the space shuttle.  These young men were the drivers of the boat.  We performed some of the most intense and arduous operations ever, where their precise driving skills were put to test every day.  How did they learn to drive a submarine in the toughest of conditions, with crew-members lives at stake, without failure?  I mean, they had only been attached to a submarine for maybe three months. 

Tools:  First thing a good leader does is providing their people with the right tools to perform their job.  These could be actual tools such as a hammer, or they could be offering references to learn or knowledge they will gain.  In this particular scenario, we gave them books to gain knowledge.

Train:  After providing the ‘Tools’ to perform their duties, we then should train our people.  Training through repetition is one method so employees can tie their gained knowledge to a specific skill set.  Training can performed in many ways—and should be.  Not everyone learns the same way.  Some learn requiring physically performing a duty, while others are observers first.  You must adapt your training to the individual to achieve the best outcome.  Come up with a training plan, so that way the trainee can get the most out of the training, without delays as you train “on the fly”.  Training should include drills where the individual performs the task without interruption while you, or someone designated, is observing.  When the drill or practical is complete, sit down with the individual and critique their performance.  You must remember that at first you are training fundamentals, so ensure you support your criticism with facts, such as “in accordance with this procedure, paragraph, …” This gives them a reference to fall back on.  After some time, come back to another drill and then your criticism can include such things as “I have done it this way, and it has worked better; or, have you thought about taking this approach…” You can provide some subjective feedback to hone their newly developed skills.

Trust:  This is by far the most important lesson I have ever learned.  Trust your people to do their job.  This goes a long way with your relationship with this person and their ultimate success.  I have discovered that 99% of us do not want to fail on purpose.  We especially try not to purposely fail our bosses.  If you show trust, then any failures your people make are probably the outcome of a failed process, not a failure caused by a malicious person.  Also by showing trust, you will find your people feeling empowered in their job, happier in their job, and they will surpass your expectations.  It is amazing to watch how hard they will work for you when you show trust.

Ultimately, through providing tools, giving proper training to the individual, and showing trust, you will have a workforce of young men and women who will get the job done right, usually the first time.  This will increase productivity and efficiency of any group you work with.  Trust me. 

Direct, Delegate, Disappear – The 3-D’s of Leadership

Many years ago, I had a boss who told me that there were 3D’s of leadership, and that they were to direct, delegate, then disappear.  I spent quite some time thinking about this.  It wasn’t until I came into a position of leadership myself that I understood—having become a leader/manager of people who performed the very same tasks I was previously performing.  At that instance, the echoes of those words became church bells ringing in my head.  I got it.  And ‘Oh My’, my old boss was right on the mark.  Here is what I’ve learned.

Direct:  If you read my post on Priorities, you know that without giving clear direction along with a due date, your people may just make your request a “Priority 3”.  When directing, a due date of when you expect the task to be complete must be given.  Without it, they will get to the task when they can and you cannot complain about not getting it when you wanted.  Also, when directing, be clear of your expectations.  It is impossible for your employees to know what you want if you do not communicate your desired outcome with them.  To ensure you are clear, ask open ended questions to verify they received your message.

Delegate:  One of the most important aspects of leadership is when you delegate.  Delegating tasks is NOT to just give them work, but to empower them with the ability to make needed decisions to complete the task without stopping each time to get your permission to make necessary changes.  Make sure you empower your employees by giving them the tools to perform the task at hand, which include the ability to make necessary decisions to complete the task.

Admiral Hyman Rickover, the Father of Naval Nuclear Power says "Responsibility is a unique concept. It can only reside and inhere in a single individual. You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you. You may disclaim it, but you cannot divest yourself of it. Even if you do not recognize it or admit its presence, you cannot escape it. If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion or ignorance or passing the blame can pass the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible."

So remember, although you can hold your people accountable for their work, you are still responsible for the job.

Disappear:  Toughest part of the job, especially if they are performing work you use to perform.  It is very difficult for us too not stand over our people and see how they are doing the job and then correct them when they are doing it differently than the way you would have done it.  My best example of this is if I put you in Downtown L.A. and ask you to drive me to the beach.  I may have a certain way I expect you to go, as that is how I would have gone, except there are probably an infinite number of ways to get us to the beach.  No one way is more right than the other if your goal is just to get there.  There may be more efficient ways, but how will they ever learn if you do not just leave them alone to find out on their own.  With that being said, YOU MUST FOLLOW-UP DURING THE JOB!  If you just leave, and never check in, you may be telling them that the task is not important to you.  This just gives them the thought that you only give them work that is not worthy of you.  Also, by following up, you can inquire if they have any questions.  They may be too afraid or just too busy to ask you questions, so this really helps them.  And lastly, by following up, you can be checking on their progress and maybe giving slight course adjustments to help them overcome obstacles that you have learned from the past.

Once again, I am open to your input.  Please share this with people you feel may either learn from or add to this blog.  Your input is what will really make this blog work for all of us.

Priorities- The 3P's

In the Navy we were always trying to accomplish more than possible inside a workday.  We used to say it was like trying to fit five pounds of shit into a one pound sock.  In other words, you have too much on your plate and never enough time to do it.  So, I learned how to do it.  The problem wasn’t ever going to go away.  No matter how hard you tried, your bosses and peers were always going to need something from you NOW!  So instead of trying to fix them, I learned how to handle it.  I narrowed it down to an issue with Priorities.  I call them the 3 P’s.

Priority #1:  Do those things only you can do!  There are those jobs or tasks of which are your sole responsibility.  Ones which cannot be delegated due to things such as sensitivity, experience, etc.  These might include such items as professional counseling of your subordinates, pay, or items that require only your attention.  These are your #1 priority and must be treated as such.

Priority #2:  Delegate those things which can be delegated!  If you have requirements that can be delegated then do so.  When delegating though, you must give clear and concise directions of your expectations ALONG WITH A DUE DATE.  If you do not give a due date, your workers may give the task their own priority which may not work with yours.  Also, when delegating, give those you are delegating the authority to make decisions as required to complete the task.  If you make them feel empowered to perform the task without supervision, but with a clear expectation, they will ultimately be happier to help and turn out a better product.  Lastly, when delegating, it does not relinquish the importance of the task.  You need to follow up with those performing the task for a few reasons; one being to show that it is in fact important to you and you are not just dumping grunt work on them, and two is to see if they need any assistance to keep them on task.

Priority #3:  Ignore the rest!  Just blow off anything else.  Quite often we are asked for something immediately as the boss is walking around with his or her hair on fire due to a crisis.  In these instances, they are asking everyone to do this task, specifically anyone who is willing to listen.  I used to have bosses who would come up with a crazy idea on Monday, and by Tuesday it was their most important item.  B.S.!  It wasn’t usually as important as they thought.  So, you blow it off.  Especially if they did not give you any expectations or due dates.  If it is indeed important to them, they will come back and ask again, this time with more specifics, at which you make it a Priority #2 and delegate it!

This is the beginning of a short series of my lessons learned.  I will delve much more into how to delegate and when it is okay to do so.  Today is just the tip of the spear for building a more efficient team both up and down the Chain of Command.  Please share this with people you feel may either learn from or add to this blog.  Your input is what will really make this blog work for all of us.

Breaking Barriers

Scenario:  Not a true story but needed to get a Point of View.

You work for a company where generations of family have been working.  Your entire family, friends, acquaintances—it is a large business for your town. You’ve been working with this company for 30 years, and you have come up through the ranks.  You are now a Manager.  In this business, you build diesel engines for a living. Everything you know, you have learned through blood, sweat, and limited formal training if any at all. 

You find your crew struggling with a diesel engine that is already beyond its estimated delivery date to one of your major customers.  The engine repairs aren’t going well, and your crew has worked 40% overtime to get the job done.  They are stressed.  You jump in, roll up your sleeves, and start to help.  You are now knee deep into this work, 16 hours of wrench turning yourself.

In walks a young man.  He has been with in the business for just a few years now.  Good reputation.  Hard worker.  Recently transferred to your shop.  He walks up to the jobsite, and asks if he can help.  Your patience is thin, you turn and snap a little saying something along the lines of, “You don’t have enough time at the company to be of any help, go back to your list of jobs I gave you and just focus on those.”  He walks away, mumbling.  You are overheard saying to your crew, “These new guys just don’t get it.  I remember when I used to have to hand out tools, working my way up.  These new guys can’t just come in and work the hard stuff.  They need to earn their stripes.  Can you even believe him?  Walking in here thinking we can’t fix this?  I’ve been doing this longer than he has been alive......” 

As Paul Harvey used to say, “and now for the rest of the story”.  This young man’s last name happens to be Cummins.  His family lineage has been in design, development, and implementation of Diesel engines.  His family has always had their children work “in the real world” before coming into the family business.  He has built and repaired diesels before he was standing.

What is wrong here?  First, why is the Manager knee-deep in the work?  If he is fixing things vice training and using this time to teach his crew, he is missing a great opportunity to help with the development of his team.  He should always be training his replacement, and they theirs.  This way you develop a team so that when one person is sick, quit, gone, whatever the case, then your team continues to move forward without a loss.

Second.  You may know 95% of everything.  But you are not complete without that last 5%.  The young man in this scenario may know only 5%, but it may be the 5% you are missing.  DaVinci’s Mona Lisa is just an ugly woman without that smile.  That’s the 5%.  Allow input from your employees.  Sometimes we just need even the strangest of ideas, offers, and questions from our people to trigger a new thought process.  You may have been just doing donuts in your mind. (Looks really cool but you are going nowhere).  

Third.  Know your people.  Know their strengths.  Why do we continue to place people in jobs we need, vice in jobs where they offer the most value?

Lastly. Get your ego out of the workplace.  Just because someone hasn’t earned their stripes within your “club” does not mean they have no value.  In fact, if everyone still thought that way, we would never have the technology that we have today.  We would have remained in the caveman days.  New does not equal dumb.  Period.  What you are really saying is that you are afraid of possible change.  Truth.

I look forward to open communications about leadership and management. 

Introduction of this Blog

This blog is an avenue for leaders and managers to share their nuggets of wisdom amongst each other in order to obtain other's perspectives. Here you will find a compilation of all of my knowledge in leadership. I will regularly post new topics for people to comment on as a form of a discussion board for all points. Please do not judge others, as I'm sure they get enough of that at work.