Experts in Their Fields…

So picture this… One of your most senior employees, the one who’s arguably the absolute best in the organization in their specific skill set, constantly grumbles about how poorly they’re treated and occasionally goes on a tirade slamming the owner in front of all of their peers. Because they have so much knowledge and experience, do you dare risk the consequences that could come from addressing such behavior?

Now picture this… One of your supervisors, who’s been with you for years and knows all the ins and outs of their department, has a long standing reputation for chastising and berating direct reports for simply not being mind-readers. Since this supervisor has such a strong grasp on all the details of the department, we certainly can’t tell them that what they’re doing to their team members is unacceptable?

Just in case you’re not tracking with me here, these are prime examples of having the wrong focus! In both cases, the technical expertise was unmatched but the impact their behaviors had on the overall culture - in their immediate teams and throughout the entire organizations they were a part of - prevented many team members from ever sticking around long enough to get close to mastering the technical part of their respective jobs! And their behavior didn’t just push the up-n-comers away, it kept more than a few highly talented people from ever joining either team!

I’ve also had the privilege of working with organizations with a completely different focus, a focus so intent on ensuring that their values are upheld that highly skilled candidates are passed over (in even the tightest hiring market) when they have a history of exhibiting behaviors that contradict the organization’s established culture. In those cases, I’ve heard owners and executives stress that technical skills can be trained but their culture is too important to risk!

Many companies talk about how important their culture is but few go that far to protect it, and that’s where those high risk areas we’ve touched on briefly turn into real profitability killers. Make no mistake, I’m not about to suggest that the technical skills in any given industry aren’t extremely important. We all know they are! I am, however, making a case for how that century old Carnegie Foundation study is as true now as it’s ever been and those skills responsible for 85% of an individual’s success also make a tremendous impact on the organizational culture as a whole.

The challenge almost always lies in which we develop. Having the wrong focus can keep us from addressing the profitability killers head-on but it can also keep us from truly capturing the profit we’re losing even when we do address it if we’re not able to measure it. And that’s where we’ll pick up next time…