Starving A Company To Death

Here’s a gut-check statement: A company starves when leadership (read, the CEO) won’t give feedback to the employees.

Feedback - That’s our charge as CEO’s. It’s our right, our burden, our divine appointment, isn’t it? We are a feedback machine…or we’re supposed to be.

Interestingly enough, CEO's live off of feedback. From customers, the markets, our employees, our gut…

Yet, it’s how we react to that feedback which I think can distinguish the good from the great to the downright inspiring leader. The daunting task is to give feedback to either change performance or reinforce it.

Here is what I see-

You might jump to the conclusion that it is easy to dole out atta-boys with some appreciative back-slappin’ to reinforce positive behavior, or behavior that delivers the outcomes we want.

Not true. At least for me…and probably not you.

In fact, this practice is what I overlook the most. Here is my cynical mistake: I presume that any great work was simply the result of my inspired direction, a manager’s careful planning, and the department’s fabulous execution. If it worked, no sense wasting time celebrating what they were supposed to do anyways. Business moves way too fast for that.

But here is the lesson: What is recognized, gets reinforced. If it gets reinforced correctly (meaning, the principles are taught as the pattern to follow), it gets systemitized. If it gets systemized, you have a decent chance that it gets inculturated. And a culture of performance is a money and talent magnet.

Ah, to be a CEO with the moniker of a "Money Magnet". Yet, we choose to starve the company? We choose to not feed back to those who must fed. Why? Because recognition takes work. It takes time. It takes analysis. And it makes us vulnerable. We open ourselves up to other’s feedback on what wasn’t as easily inspired and instituted.

Next time: A correction on correcting correctly