A word from Betty

June 4, 2005: "The right people on the bus".

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It appears to me as I experience management of companies both large and small, that one of our biggest challenges continues to be "the right people on the bus." It is not so much the challenge of determining who those people are, but what to do (and then doing it) about those who are either not right for the bus or are not in the right seat on the bus.

A disciplined well-thought out leadership strategy is required to address these very key resource issues. We must first have a thorough understandingof the core values and job requirements in our work culture for all positions. Next we must evaluate each team member against these requirements. During this evaluation process it is imperative to be disciplined and brutally honest with ourselves and with each member of the team. Finally, but without undue delay we must make a decision about the future of each team member and implement that decision. Do they remain on the bus? Do they remain on the bus but change their seat? This last step is the most difficult and in my experience the one that usually gets put off or skipped all together.

When you find yourself as a manager continually having legitimate objective complaints about a team member, you must ask yourself, "is the right person on the bus?" Should their skills be further explored against right job fit? What about values? Have they consistently demonstrated by their behavior, adherence to the values that can make your company great?

By practicing the disciplined execution of this strategy results will improve over both the short and long term.

Please call me if you would like to discuss how I help organizations and individuals to move along with necessary changes.