“Buses, Horses and Bridges”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
Communication – a pretty good word. Unfortunately, we (mea culpa) in the management and human resources community have so abused, infused, and over-used this word in every conceivable manner, that it has become impotent. Simply reading it our mind glazes over with a milky residue. We’ve wasted and ruined a really good word.
But although effective communication is a critical part of effective leadership, most managers are so bogged down in the grind of daily decision-making, improved methods of communication are rarely studied by most managers. There may be a perception on the manager’s part that they were promoted because one of their myriad skills is an innate ability to communicate. Or, as is often the case in agriculture, “I own this outfit so when I talk, you’ll listen.” The latter may be a reality, but it doesn’t make anyone an effective leader.
We are probably by now all familiar with Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” metaphor of getting the right people on the bus—it seems pretty intuitive. Even a bad manager probably gets that one, and gets it right. But what happens after they’re all on the bus and it’s pointed down the road? That’s when we see differences between effective management and less so. If you’ve gotten the “right” people on the bus, then how much management really needs to happen? Wouldn’t you do everything possible to remove obstacles from productivity and give these “right” people increasing freedom to accomplish what they’ve been put on the bus for? This is when effective leaders give their “horses their head”, and trust them to move out in the right direction and with confidence. Or else they weren’t the “right” people to begin with.
Or maybe they are only considered “right” if they are automatons which only perform those actions directed by the team leader. I would imagine that would be very satisfying for some managers, but it would also put a very firm ceiling on productivity. Team members couldn’t function independent of the leader, and since the leader couldn’t be everywhere, the bigger the team, the lower the ceiling on each member’s productivity. So let’s go back to step one: getting the right people on the bus. Automatons which are incapable of functioning without constant, intrusive, direction from above may be right for some types of businesses, but not many.
Now let’s get back to communication. We’ve hired creative, ambitious, energetic, and qualified people to take the team forward. Most times the effective manager needs to get out of their way, remove obstacles and let them produce—give them their head. But certainly other times, the manager needs to effectively communicate. You can choose two approaches at this point. One: assume all people are just like you and want to be communicated with in exactly the same manner that you want to communicate. Or, two: assume that few if any people are exactly like you and may actually receive the message more effectively if brought in a slightly (or dramatically) different package. This is where the truly effective communicator ALWAYS crosses the bridge to the person to whom they are communicating. Insisting on staying on your side of the valley separating two completely different communication styles and yelling across the chasm may be the most expeditious decision, but rarely the most effective. This may involve using a different media, a different setting, different words, or simply a different tone. .
Management is hard work. But it’s not just hard because it requires difficult decisions in a challenging economic environment, it’s also hard because it requires homework and preparation. The best coaches come in early and stay late—long after the players have hit the showers. Part of this homework is getting to know who you’ve got on your bus. The only way to achieve effective communication to a diverse audience of team members is through intentional study of each team member, knowing how they’ll best hear your message, and cross the bridge.
