Let’s get straight to the point:
- Why is it that some partnerships or family businesses fail even when all the partners get along very well outside the business?
- Why do some business owners get great results with their teams but others don’t?
- Why is it that some ‘nasty’ and demanding bosses are able to retain their best staff but the ‘nice’ bosses fail to?
The number 1 Motivation Killer in business is inconsistent expectations.
Inconsistent expectations is the #1 reason partnerships fail, whether family members or otherwise. It is still possible to work with partners who move at different pace with different personalities… but it is virtually impossible to work with one whose expectations of the partnership changes all the time.
Inconsistent expectations is the #1 reason your staff lose interest in their jobs. It is possible to work with a leader who is foul mouthed, bad tempered and demanding… it is virtually impossible to work with one whose instructions change minute by minute impulsively depending on what the leader feel at that moment in time. In fact, this has been proven in multiple job exit interviews (google it), where the number 1 reason someone leaves a job is always due to relationship with the immediate superior.
Here are some examples of inconsistent leadership…
1. You make an agreement with your partner(s) regarding your roles and draw up your organization chart, but you constantly interfere with their roles, assigning yourself the ‘watchdog’ even though it is not your job to do so. (Usually, the time to address structural issues is during pre-agreed upon meetings, not on a day-to-day basis, you are creating confusion and frustration for your partners and your staff by doing so.)
2. You issue an instruction and demand your staff do it immediately, but some time later, you change your mind and want your staff to do it differently. However, instead of acknowledging you now want it differently, you expect your staff to have done it the new way following the old instruction you issued earlier, expecting the staff to read your mind.
3. You give your team several tasks and told them which ones are the priority, your team followed your instruction but later you reprimand them for “not knowing their priorities”… for following your original instruction.
4. You contradict yourself in your team or 1-to-1 meetings… often changing your mind several times throughout the same conversation on the same topic and ending with vague, open ended outcomes, leaving it to your team to figure out what you want.
If you find yourself facing the above, here are some short term steps you can take to remedy the situation…
- When you and your partners meet and agree on a plan, clarify your concerns upfront and schedule regular update meetings where you get to review and revise the plan.
- Make sure you have clarified your thoughts and expectations before issuing an instruction to your staff. Once you issued it, if you change your mind, start your new instruction by acknowledging to the staff that YOU changed your mind about your earlier instruction. (Note: The time your staff spent executing the original instruction is due to YOUR instruction, not due to the staff not being productive, staff should not be penalized for following your instructions.)
For long term solution, you need to ask yourself what is the source of your inconsistency. For example…
- Are you insecure or afraid of being wrong such that you deliberately leave things vague to give yourself wriggle room in case things go wrong?
- Do you doubt your partners, team members and/or the system in your company?
- Do you lack the management skills required to evaluate your team members’ skill levels and delegate effectively?
Being honest with yourself is the first step. It is also the hardest. However, the end results are often permanent growth, and totally worth it.
I once had a client coming up to me and said “Can’t get good people nowadays.”
6 months later, this same client said “Market seems to have improved, I am getting much better people.”
Actually, the employment market is still the same, there are always good and bad candidates… what changed was the client worked on herself and became a better leader in that 6 months period. Better leaders attract better team members.
So if you are not after short-term fix and gimmicks, you want permanent results and are willing to do what it takes… register NOW for our FREE Business Optimization Clinic, valued at RM750. We guarantee you will get at least 1-2 ideas you can implement immediately, even if you do not engage our services. Have a profitable week ahead!
The Familybiz Works Team
ps: Only 10 sessions every month for qualified business owners. Claim yours today!