There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to take responsibility, demonstrate resourcefulness and deliver the desired results.
Some people follow this approach when focusing on a few activities. Some follow it in many areas of their lives. Some follow it when working as individuals. Some when working with others or when leading teams.
Some people follow this approach in an encouraging way. Some may be focused on the job to do and, in the process, may create waves. Let’s explore how people may follow these themes.
Responsibility
Such people are proactive and take ownership for making things happen Some may choose to set their own specific goals. Some may make clear working contracts with others about the agreed results to achieve.
Resourcefulness
Such people are resourceful. They focus on the results to achieve and reach into their repertoire to clarify the possible ways forward. Rehearsing what they are going to do, they then move into action and pursue their chosen strategies towards achieving the results.
Results
Such people are results focused. They follow their chosen rhythm when working and are resilient. When necessary, they buy time to think about possible solutions to challenges. They then do their best to achieve the desired results.
Individuals who choose to take responsibility often have an internal locus of control. They say: ‘I can make things happen,’ rather than ‘Things happen to me.’
They have a positive attitude but are also realistic. They often do lots of due diligence before committing to doing a piece of work. Bearing in mind what they can control in the situation, they take the following steps.
They clarify the real results to achieve and the benefits of achieving these results.
They rate the chances of success on a scale 0-10 and make sure it is at least 7+/10. They clarify what can be done to improve the rating.
They then decide if they want to commit to doing what it required to achieve the results.
Different people follow this approach in different ways. The following pages explore some examplees. The first is rather extreme. The second describes how it is possible to apply this approach in a work situation.
People Who Take Responsibility
For Diffusing Bombs
Some people feel driven to take responsibility for doing certain kinds of work. They say to themselves: ‘This is the work that needs to be done. If not me, then who will do it?’
Such people see themselves as volunteers not victims. They choose to do work that others may find daunting. They see the challenging experience as a chance to deliver excellence.
This is an approach taken by bomb disposal technicians, mountain rescue teams and others who do hazardous work. One person expressed this in the following way.
“I am quite cerebral in my work. Bearing in mind the challenge, I define it as a task to be done. I rehearse doing it time and again in my mind to minimise the risk. I then go ahead and do my best to deliver the goods.”
Bomb disposal experts, for example, often drain themselves of emotion and focus on the job in hand. This is especially so when advancing towards the device on what is known as ‘the longest walk’.
Ed Chipperfield and James Day describe the qualities demonstrated by such workers in their article called What does it take to survive as a bomb disposal expert? Below are excerpts from the piece.
In a situation where the only outcomes are success or failure, psychologists say these soldiers require a certain mindset.
“We want people who minimise the unknowns,” says Eugene Burke, a military psychologist.
“They’re not impulsive but are able to make fast decisions, thanks to training. It’s almost as though they’re flicking through reference cards in their head to find a match to the problem in front of them.
“They’re organised, focused on detail and think ahead to possible outcomes. Allowing stress to build up is not an option as the operative can become withdrawn and lose their temper.”
Such people choose to take responsibility when doing challenging work. They then use their resourcefulness and repertoire to do their best to achieve the desired results.
Some people focus on similar themes when leading teams or doing work with other people. Let’s explore this approach.
People Who Take Responsibility
To Achieve Certain Results
This is an approach that can be used when communicating a piece of work to be done, managing projects, leading teams or doing other activities. When taking this approach, it is vital to explain the following things.
The Carrot: To describe the specific results to achieve and the benefits – to all the various stakeholders – of achieving these goals.
The Contract: To describe the specific responsibilities of the various people – plus the support that will be given – in working to achieve the goals.
The Commitment: To give people time to reflect and decide if they want to do their best to achieve the goals.
Imagine that you have communicated these things to a person or a group of people. When appropriate, you can then aim to take the following steps.
First, to make clear contracts with people about the various responsibilities in working towards achieving the goals.
Second, to encourage people to build on their strengths and also provide them with the support they need to achieve the goals.
Third, to keep focusing on the outcomes – the results to achieve – and enable people to do their best to achieve the goals.
Let’s explore another situation where it is possible to use elements of this approach. The CEO of a company I worked with explained this in the following way.
“Our company is growing and acquiring more businesses. This means my role is changing. I need to devote more time to meeting with the leadership teams of each business.
“Our approach is to explain the company’s goals. It is then to give them autonomy, within certain parameters, to make their best contributions towards achieving the goals.
“As the CEO, my role is changing. I used to be the Managing Director of our original business. I now want somebody to step into that role and deliver the desired outcomes.
“There is one prime candidate. But I am not sure if they realise what the role entails and whether they have the ability to do it. Have you any suggestions?”
How to clarify whether the senior manager could make the step up? One approach is to start by clarifying whether the person may have the attitude and ability required to do the job. This involved taking the following steps.
First, to clarify the outcomes the person in the MD role needed to deliver in order to run their part of the company successfully.
They would not need to do all the work themselves. But they would be accountable for delivering certain results in terms of profitability, product quality and people.
Second, to clarify whether the person may have the ability to deliver these results.
They would need: a) to have certain strengths; b) to have a pattern of delivering some of these results successfully; c) to be able to build a team of complementary strengths that could enable them to deliver the results.
Third, to ensure the person was clear on the desired outcomes and then for them to consider if they wanted to commit to delivering these results.
This would also involve describing: a) the specific support the person would be offered; b) to specific things they would need to do to keep the board informed about their progress towards achieving the goals.
The CEO began by clarifying the outcomes that a person in the MD role needed to deliver. Looking at the potential candidate, they believed the person could do some elements of the job.
The role often required making decisions, however, that could prove challenging. Would the candidate have the ability and willingness to make such decisions?
The CEO met with the candidate for the MD role. They began by explaining what they saw as the person’s strengths. Moving on to what was required, here is an overview of what they described to the candidate.
The Managing Director Role
The Results
The results – the outcomes – that somebody
in this role will be asked to deliver are these:
To …
To …
To …
The Reasons
The benefits of delivering these results – for
all the various stakeholders – are:
To …
To …
To …
The Responsibilities
The person who takes this role will be responsible for delivering the results. Whilst they will be accountable for the outcomes, they will need to build on their own strengths but also build a team that delivers the goods.
The person will be given support to do the job. They will also be asked to proactively keep the Board informed about the progress being made.
I would like you to take some time to reflect. You can then decide if you want to take the role and do your best to deliver these results.
If not, that is okay. If you do want to take the role, however, we can then work out the best way to help you to achieve success.
The candidate welcomed this approach regarding being clear on the results to achieve. They found two aspects to be interesting, however, and explored how to deliver these outcomes.
The first part was the commercial emphasis. Whilst they were good at customer relationships, they would need somebody who could drive sales and business development.
The second part concerned people. They had strong empathy with people and customers. This helped to build good relationships but, at the same time, meant that some people took liberties.
The candidate would need to make decisions that would be good for the company rather than just good for the customers and colleagues. Whilst they were prepared to take this approach, them may sometimes want to bounce their ideas off the CEO.
The CEO appointed the candidate to the MD role. Things went well for a time but then got shaky in terms of sales. This was partly due to market conditions, but it was also because the MD’s sales team needed to be proactive.
The MD and CEO put together a task force that aimed: a) to get repeat business; b) to generate new business. This turned around the commercials, but the MD had learned a valuable lesson. They built a better sales team that delivered the goods.
As mentioned earlier, there are many ways to do fine work. One approach is for people to choose to take responsibility, demonstrate resourcefulness and deliver the desired results.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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