In the latest of our leadership classic series, Stephen Covey proposes that, as people form habits and become more effective, they progress through three stages:
Dependent, Independent then Interdependent.
You can use these stages to rate your own organizational culture, and as you progress through these stages, you’ll experience less issues, less risk and improved operational effectiveness.
Covey suggests a team member can’t contribute until they can function independently. Thus, a person must become independent before becoming able to collaborate and effectively team up with others.
By forming better habits related to KNOWLEDGE, SKILL and DESIRE, your team/organization will be equipped to grow.
Consider how the following habits that can improve overall effectiveness and how they might apply within your organization:
1. Be Proactive – rather than waiting for an accident or issue to take place, what if we proactively address risks before they result in unwanted and unplanned outcomes?
2. Begin with the end in mind – by focusing more on achieving success (rather than avoiding failure), consider your key metrics and what success looks like for each role so your team can measure their own progress, which should lead to improvement over time.
3. Put First Things First – Prioritize the IMPORTANT tasks over the URGENT to get better results.
This simple yet effective shift will reduce the number of urgent tasks that require your attention.
4. Think Win-Win – avoid the battle where management is trying to control workers and focus instead on a collaborative effort where everyone benefits. How can you create more collaboration and more ownership with your independent team members?
5. Seek first to understand then to be understood – Many change initiatives have little to no input from those who will be either affected or will be implementing the change. When the voice of the team(s) is understood, clarity increases and the execution of the solution improves dramatically.
6. Synergize – Interaction and co-operation is needed to multiply individual efforts. When the whole culture is more than the sum of the parts, then synergy is happening.
A compelling WHY, or organizational Purpose or Vision is a key component to developing organizational alignment and synergy.
7. Sharpen the Saw – A culture of continuous improvement is vital to achieving better results. If you keep using the saw without sharpening the blade, you exert more and more effort for less and less accomplishment. To realize better, healthier results, emphasize key behaviors and progress and less on lagging performance metrics.
In summary, these habits enable more effective results and when combined with a common goal or compelling Vision/Purpose, the team is well equipped to embrace an attitude of….
“I do this because I WANT to” vs. because I have to.