An Abundance of Professionals ≠ A Professional Organization

To what degree does ‘professional’ describe your organization?

That’s a question that I frequently ask of senior leaders. Naturally, they’ll bend into a pretzel to answer in the affirmative.  After all, the answer reflects on them—for better or worse.

Most of the senior leaders justify their affirmative responses by the nature of the service or product that the organization provides (or attempts to provide).  In other words, the senior leader considers their organization ‘professional’ because, at the end of the day, it delivers an innovative technology or sage business counsel.  You know, these are organizations with big-brain scientists, highly-trained marketers, time-tested engineers, etc as a core part of their staff. Some are considered experts. In other words, the senior leaders justify their affirmative answer because of what the organization ultimately produces (e.g. a serum, sophisticated advice, a bridge).  It’s true that specialized expertise was required to produce each—specifically technical expertise.

But what’s not so obvious was that the serum was late to market (beaten out by a competitor who was first to market by six months). This development ultimately undermined the serum’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. The bridge was 30% over budget and took twice as many internal resources as once thought. Heads rolled as a result of the cost over-runs and client dissatisfaction.

Let’s look at it from the trenches.  If people inside the organization…

  • Don’t know what the organization’s priorities are (e.g. ever-changing or unclear priorities)
  • Can’t count on internal resource commitments to be honored (e.g. downward pressure on budgets become commonplace…decision surrounding budgets become capricious)
  • Have lost confidence in the organization’s ability to meet production deadlines (e.g.  the unwillingness of management to stick with commitments is often the culprit here)
  • Have become accustomed to whimsical decision-making on management’s part (e.g. “Just hold tight.  Wait five minutes, things will change.” )
  • Don’t know what’s going on in the greater organization (e.g. inadequate or ineffective communication)
  • Don’t understand what business they’re in (e.g. yes, this really happens!)
  • Haven’t fully bought-in to the current initiatives advanced by management (e.g.  the case for why these initiatives warrant special attention and support has been ineffective by management.)
  • Realize that customers/clients are being disadvantaged (e.g. the bill gets maximized, client value doesn’t.)
  • Don’t see their management defending the organization’s professional ideals (e.g. explicit or implicit)
  • Don’t feel connected to their colleagues (e.g. they may as well be strangers in the night)

…few will say that the word ‘professional’ describes their organization…even if their organization delivers sophisticated products or services…even if they employ ‘big-brained’ people who have advanced training….even if their individual specialists exude superior technical proficiency.

This may seem counter-intuitive and even painful to hear. But consider David Maister’s experience. David, now retired, was once the world’s leading authority on the management of professional services firms.  He observed, “I rarely meet individual professionals who believe their firm, as an institution, is built on such [professional] principles.”

Most people define an organization (white collar or not) as ‘professional’ not by what the organization delivers (technical stuff developed by really smart people) but by how they go about their business. This is outlined in great detail in Chapter Two of The Power of Professionalism. And make no mistake, how they go about their business is a by-product of their mind-sets.

In the end it’s about confidence and trust. So when I hear senior leaders say, especially in the face of great chasms of trust, that the word ‘professional’ describes their organization I realize we’ve still got a ways to go.

Professional or Classy?

How do you describe someone who…

  • keeps quiet about a rare indiscretion that, if revealed, would have tarnished someone’s otherwise stellar (and deserved) reputation
  • resists the temptation to tell someone they were wrong (when they clearly were).  Instead, they offer a different point-of-view–one that lets the person down softly.
  • jumps in and deflects attention away from a colleague who has unexpectedly embarrassed themselves in front of 80 ‘A’ list attendees during a workshop at your industry’s annual conference

Which description fits—professional or classy?  Not surprisingly, it’s usually both.

Real Artists Ship

Today’s post was inspired by a colleague friend of mine–Sally Helgesen–a gifted author and management consultant.

Sally was reminiscing that her favorite Steve Jobs quote was “ Real Artists Ship”.   I can’t help but relate this quote to Mind-Set #1–Professionals Have A Bias For Results.

By ‘ship’, Jobs means produce…get your stuff to market….get people to try your stuff, weigh-in on it…all the while taking a risk.  Of course, your stuff may well be a product, but also could be a service–doesn’t matter.

Big ideas are fine…partially-designed  products on a drawing board may temporarily inspire…but until you ‘ship’, it’s all theory.  Results begin with ‘shipping’.

Do it and you’ll show the world why you matter–just as Jobs did!

Youth Is Served – The Finest Professionals Can Offer

The Julian Krinsky Group is a prestigious sports and educational entity that serves more than 4,000 young people each year through leading-edge summer programs.  Based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the Group serves families from all over the world.  Their standards are high—really high! Their aim is to deliver the very finest, most innovative, learning experiences possible.

The staff is young—typically those in their early 20’s. Delivering such high quality programs through a young staff is no easy task. Tina Krinsky, Chief Visionary Officer of the Group, found the mind-set material “the perfect inspiration for my dozen different orientation speeches that I give to over 400 staff from all over the world.”

Of course, Tina wanted to instill within the staff the standards of excellence that was expected of them.  But more importantly, she told the staff that she considered each and every one of them a professional—- certainly a contrarian notion when one considers their young age. Yet she noted, “we deliver the finest, most professional, learning experiences for young people in the world. Only you as professionals can ensure that happens. I have every confidence you will do exactly that.” They do.

Tina sees in those young staffers what they can’t immediately see in themselves. By the end of each  summer, staffers grow just as much as their young students do. They grow—not because they are trying to do something—but because they are attempting to be something.

Whose Money Is It?

Paraphrasing the renowned economist Milton Friedman, “people become especially generous with other people’s money.” Politicians do it, business people do it too!

From my point-of-view, professionals don’t play fast and loose with other people’s money – especially when they’re in a position to benefit personally from it.

Consider the employee who lives high-on-the-hog on the company dime. For example, choosing the Conde’ Nast featured restaurant with the $75 steaks while on a business trip. Or the consultant staying at the big-name Four-Star hotel with the 1,000 thread-count sheets? Would they make the same generous choices if it were their own money?…or would they make a different choice?

I realize that there are many instances in which the more generous choice (as a practical matter) makes great business sense—especially when it involves clients. Management is sometimes even couraging of such generosity. Sometimes it’s a way to reward employees. And sometimes there really isn’t a great (or appropriate) alternative to a more expensive option. Yet, these instances are far more the exception than the rule.

How many times have you heard someone boasting of staying at a prestigious Four Star Hotel while on business when the hotels they stayed at for their own vacation (and paid for with their own money) was consistently Three Stars (or less)? Inconsistencies of this type can be precursors to having others lose confidence in us.

Organizations expect people to act responsibly. It’s a sign of maturity and professionalism to treat other’s money like our own. It builds trustworthiness and one’s own self-esteem at the same time.  Granted, some may consider this example insignificant, but it’s one that can portent bigger, even more important, things.