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POWER EXCHANGE: How to Boost Accountability and Performance in Today’s Workforce
By Lee J. Colan
(This report is an excerpt from the book by the same title. The book is filled with actionable steps, examples and useful tools today’s leader. Read what influential leaders are saying about POWER EXCHANGE).
Consider this: Early in 2005, the workforce scale tipped once and for all. Generation X (born 1965 - 1977) and Generation Y (born 1978 and later) now make up the majority of the workforce. As a result, two experienced workers are leaving the workforce for every one who enters it.
Further, 10,000 Baby Boomers (born 1946 - 1964) turn 55 years old every day. As this workforce shift continues, so will the shift away from yesterday’s workplace norms and expectations.
This new “X/Y” workforce has different expectations about work. Today’s X/Y workers:
want to know "what the deal is"– exactly what you want from them and what you have to offer them. have a need to be fully engaged at work to help them find a sense of meaning in their jobs and to remain satisfied. feel less connected to the company, and as a result, rely on their supervisors more than any other individual for information, goal clarity, policy interpretation, training, etc. expect their input to really matter and will leave if they see it doesn’t.
Coupled with this demographic shift is the projected shortage of more than 10 million workers in just five years.
These new workforce dynamics and shrinking talent pool create a new leadership challenge. If this challenge is ignored it will leave leaders behind the curve of success. Those who embrace it will boost their team’s competitive advantage and be the leaders of tomorrow.
The X/Y workforce will require powerful leadership. Unlike yesterday’s leaders, today’s leaders must exchange their power for employee performance.
A power exchange might sound counter-intuitive since power has traditionally been synonymous with leadership. However, a power exchange yields a highly energized team whether you lead any combination of full- or part-time employees, contractors, vendors, volunteers or other “free agents.”
This rapid-read book presents four simple “power converters” - practical steps that leaders can take to boost accountability and performance. Any leader of any team at any level can use these power converters to lead today’s changing workforce. The result is an advantage for your team that is sustainable and hard for competitors to replicate.
Today is the future. So, read on and exchange your power for your team’s success!
The Power Paradox
A certain level of power is inherent in any leadership position. Power typically goes to those who control information, resources and rewards.
In today’s information-rich (and often time-poor) world of work, information is the primary power source for successful leaders.
Although leaders can certainly influence rewards and resources, these sources of power are often controlled, in large part, by the organization.
However, leaders have significant control over information.
Since information is power, keeping it to ourselves can make us feel more powerful than those who do not have the information. This fundamental human dynamic has created the success of tabloid magazines. Bottom line, almost everyone wants to be in the know, even if it’s just gossip.
In the X/Y workforce, the power paradox works this way: The less you control your power, the more you shift power to your team. You exchange your power – information – for team accountability and performance. Sharing your own power gives your team power.
On the other hand, the more you control your power, the less productive and engaged your team will be. Restricting the information flow with your team will choke your own success.
Let’s look at how a leader of today’s workforce applies the power paradox to boost accountability and performance.
Today’s Powerful Leader
Today, nearly 85% of the U.S. gross domestic product comes from services and information which are created and delivered by people. People directly create the majority of value in today’s economy. A leader’s job is to create and sustain high levels of value through other people.
Today’s powerful leader is willing to exchange his power to fully engage his team. He knows his employees are the fuel that powers sustained, superior performance.
The power of a leader is reflected in the power of his team. Southwest Airlines’ Herb Kelleher, Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric, Coach Phil Jackson and General Norman Schwarzkopf are considered powerful leaders. They know how to tap into the potential of their people.
Although they are leaders of mostly Baby Boomers, their leadership styles were ahead of their time. That’s why they are outstanding. They don’t control their power in traditional ways. Instead, they exchange their power for their team’s performance. They know how to create an environment where their teams consistently give discretionary effort – willingly going the extra mile to achieve team goals.
In the process of exchanging power, powerful leaders also harness their team’s full potential by:
creating greater personal and job challenge, enhancing professional growth, increasing employee engagement, building trust, breaking down barriers, raising team standards of performance and building employee ownership for problems and solutions.
The powerful leader, without a doubt, can still have a strong and commanding presence. The key is how he chooses to exchange information, and therefore power, to yield team success.
A power exchange is the intentional, continuous transfer of information that boosts employee accountability and performance.
Now, let’s translate this definition into concrete, actionable steps called power converters.
Power Converters
There are four power converters that gradually increase employee accountability and performance. These power converters give your team the biggest boost if they are applied in sequence. Since you know your team the best, you must determine when to accelerate through or spend more time on a specific power converter.
The power exchange starts by explaining the game. Explaining is necessary but not sufficient, in itself, to boost performance. When a leader explains something (a project, plan, expectation, process), the employee I sonly an observer and will likely feel little personal accountability.
The leader can continue exchanging power by asking the right questions. He might ask to clarify a problem or ask for ideas and suggestions. Asking questions engages employees, and as a result, they feel greater accountability.
The power exchange continues by involving your experts in creating solutions to improve their work and teaching them what they need to know to succeed. This step creates a high level of accountability and commitment. Employee commitment is demonstrated by identifying and solving problems and improving performance.
The final step in the power exchange is to appreciate performance and people. This produces a sustained level of increased accountability that results in employee ownership of their work – a new project, customer relationship, repetitive task or the quality of a report.
As you progress through each power converter, you enhance your employees’ responses to your leadership and elevate their level of accountability.
Let’s see how a team leader, Todd, and an employee, Kristen, progress through the power converters:
| Todd: |
“Hey, Kristen. I’m glad I bumped into you. I wanted to talk to you about something. We really need to improve our response time on special orders.” (Todd is explaining the game.) |
| Kristen: |
“OK, I understand.” (Kristen is simply observing.) |
| Todd: |
“You’re on the front lines with this issue. Why do you think our response time has increased lately?” (Todd is asking for input.) |
| Kristen: |
“Well, the new system migration has had its bumps. But I think the bigger issue is that we weren’t prepared for the recent promotional campaign to our VIP customers. Our call volume from VIPs has increased by 80% for special orders over the same period last quarter.” (Kristen is participating.) |
| Todd: |
“We need to discuss your ideas on how we can get back on track. Our response time has a direct impact on our bottom line, so I’ll give you whatever support you need to take care of this.” (Todd is involving Kristen.) |
| Kristen: |
“That sounds great. Let me send you some initial recommendations before our meeting. I’m confident we can identify a good solution and implement it quickly.” (Now Kristen is committed to solving the problem.) |
| Todd: |
(After the solution is implemented).
“That was a great job, Kristen. I really appreciate the way you took the initiative to explore solutions and make them happen.” (Todd is demonstrating his appreciation for Kristen and for her performance.)
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| Kristen: |
“Thanks, Todd! It was cool to make a real difference. I’ve already proposed a process to the Marketing Department that will keep us in the loop and prevent this problem in the future. (Kristen is taking ownership of the problem!) |
Powerful leaders know they only get accountability from their employees by being accountable to them and their success. They understand that with today’s worker, accountability is a two-way street.
Additionally, powerful leaders do not use the four power converters as separate leadership tools. Instead, they incorporate all of them into their daily interactions. They realize these converters are a time-efficient way to build employees who act like owners and consistently give discretionary effort.
Take a FREE Power Exchange Calibrator based on the four power converters revealed in this book. A five minute investment can help you boost your team’s performance!
To learn about the simple actions behind each power converter, check out POWER EXCHANGE.
Copyright © 2005 by Lee J. Colan
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