Show Faith In Your Staff

BursaSnipers

Publish date: Wed, 19 Sep 2018, 02:37 PM

10 Most companies put plenty of rules in place to keep their people in line and doing what the leaders want. Not NetflixNFLX . It gives its people responsibility and holds them accountable to get the job done.

“We assume these are intelligent adults,” Patty McCord, former chief talent officer at Netflix, told. “Why have rules that treat them like children?”

Here’s how to instill responsibility in your group.

Value people. One of the key tenets at Netflix is to avoid rules. Leaders trust their people to make the right decisions. That’s why they were hired. McCord asks why someone with a Ph.D. in math would need to ask for a finance person’s approval for a purchase of more than $10,000. They’ll just do three $9,000 purchases.

“You’re forcing people to game the system and make infantile decisions,” said McCord, who wrote the book, “Powerful.”

Be direct. Netflix calls it radical honesty. People don’t beat around the bush. Be direct and willing to say things like, “I don’t think you’re fully informed” when discussing a matter with a colleague. The leaders need to set the tone by doing it without attacking anyone.

“It should always be with the thought that the outcome is that we’ll do better,” McCord said. “Then it’s not personal, it’s not you picking on me.”

Find purpose. Donna Hicks, author of “Leading With Dignity” and associate at Harvard University’s Weatherford Center for International Affairs, focuses much of her philosophy on dignity, both yours and that of others. Leaders need to strive to honor others’ dignity by valuing and appreciating them. To do that, own up to missteps, she says.

“When you violate others’ dignity and don’t take responsibility, you violate their dignity and yours,” she said.

Overcome nature. Say you make a mistake by putting a policy decision in place that hurts the entire organization. Admit the error. And tell your people how you’ll correct it.

“Part of our biological tendency is we don’t want to look bad,” Hicks said. “Our hard-wiring does not lead us to take responsibility. It takes strength to be vulnerable.”

Find your part. When people make bad decisions, Netflix flips it to have those employees’ managers look at what context they set that caused a smart person to make a bad choice.

“Management is responsible for creating the culture by articulating what the company does and giving context to it,” McCord said.

Reap the rewards. Blunt talk and taking responsibility breed efficiency and build trust, McCord says.

“There’s less gossiping, and you can go faster if I trust you to do the right thing,” McCord said.

Gain respect. When you own up to a misstep, your people are far more likely to feel empathy than to condemn you, Hicks says. Take responsibility if you’ve caused people harm.

“When leaders do that, people soften up,” Hicks said. “It brings people closer.”

Open up. Create an environment where people feel safe to speak up if their dignity has been violated. Make yourself vulnerable by talking about what you could have done better.

“That’s the secret to rebuilding trust when it’s broken,” Hicks said. “We think vulnerability makes us weak. But the fact is it makes people become more engaged and feel there’s a purpose to their job. That’s invaluable.”

Give feedback. Netflix promoted honesty by starting a feedback system called Start, Stop, Continue. It encouraged people to tell anyone else at the company something they’d like them to start doing, something they should stop doing and something they should continue doing.

“We said if we feel transparency and honesty are important to us, it should be done openly,” McCord said.

Practice and learn. It doesn’t always come naturally to own up to your mistakes. Hicks says it’s vital to work on it. Try it on your significant other or kids. You’ll get used to admitting errors.

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