CEO Chronicles # 24 : 4 Steps To Make You Reliable March 17th, 2020
The Perfect Employee : Reliability
In #ceochronicles article # 20, we asked, ‘What qualities make up a perfect employee?’
We agreed that the four main qualities of a PERRfect employee are –
- Proactivity
- Emotional Intelligence
- RELIABILITY, and
- Resilience
Now that we have identified these qualities, you asked me –
- What are the components of Reliability?
- How can I be (and be seen as) a Reliable Employee?”
As always, great questions. Let me share…
A Reliable Story
It was 2007. One of my friends, Rajesh, the CEO of a electronics products company in Singapore was in the final stages of an acquisition of a small competitor.
All of a sudden, one Sunday morning, he received a call from Delhi informing him that his father had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. His mother needed him there immediately.
He and his wife, Shobha, booked their tickets and starting packing to leave.
Rajesh was in a quandary. There was no question that he was needed by his father’s side. But, he was also needed in Singapore to close out the acquisition. He could not do this remotely. He needed to identify someone completely reliable. As he was preparing to leave, he scanned his organisation in his mind. Ten minutes later, while waiting for the taxi, he called his COO.
“Good morning, Serena,’ he said, “sorry to disturb you so early. My Dad’s in hospital and I have to leave for Delhi now.”
“Hi, Rajesh,” said Serena, “I am so sorry to hear this. What happened?”
Rajesh explained the situation to Serena. Then, he came to the reason for his call.
“Serena, I want to make Anwar the point man for the purchase. He will substitute for me. Can you please inform him, and ask him to call me? I will be getting into a taxi shortly.”
“Anwar?” asked Serena. “Don’t you want me to handle this?” She seemed a little taken aback.
“Serena, you have enough and more on your plate,” said Rajesh, “Also, Anwar has been part of the transaction from day one. Just ask him to call me.”
Fast forward to nine days later.
Rajesh walked into the office. His father had recovered and was back home, in good health. There was a loud cheer and applause as he entered.
“Thank you, guys!” he said, “great work, everyone! Well done!”
After shaking many hands and receiving a bunch of high fives, he reached his cabin. As he settled in his chair, he looked back at the previous week. I owe Anwar a huge debt, he thought. Without him, this deal would have collapsed. Anwar is such a reliable person. He is worthy of a much bigger role…
He swiveled his chair and looked out of the window, as his mind went back…
Understand expectations
When Anwar called, Rajesh and Shobha were in the taxi on the way to the airport.
“Good morning, boss,” said Anwar, “Serena told me about your father. So sorry, and all the best. What would you like me to do?”
“Thanks, Anwar,” said Rajesh, “I need you to take charge of the merger. Can you do this?”
There was a pause. “If you can guide me from Delhi, without impacting your time with your father, I think I can,” said Anwar, “but I need to understand specifically what are the issues I need to focus on, and what are the specific outcomes we want.”
The conversation continued till Rajesh reached the airport, and then both signed off.
Six hours later, Rajesh and Shobha landed in Delhi. Once in the Uber, Rajesh opened his email. There was one from Anwar with the subject line, “List of expectations”. Rajesh opened the e-mail and read it carefully. Over the next 30 minutes, he entered his comments and sent them to Anwar.
By the next morning, Anwar and Rajesh had agreed on the specific expectations of Anwar to complete the transaction.
STEP 1 : Always set sharp, clear and specific expectations. Leave no question marks. Set your target so precisely that your arrow will strike it exactly. The more precise the expectation, the more reliable the outcome.
Plan & Prioritize
By Monday morning, Anwar had a list of 30 items that he was expected to oversee and complete.
He spent the first half of the day at the whiteboard. He wrote out all the items and arranged them in order of what needed to be completed first, what items followed which, the estimated amount of time each item needed and the resources required for each.
Then, he then went to speak to Serena.
“Serena, I need your help,” he said, “could you give your advice?”
“Of course, Anwar,” said Serena. For the next 2 hours, they spent time discussing the plan on the whiteboard. Serena made suggestions and changes, and by 3:00 PM, both had agreed on the plan and the priorities.
Serena then called for a meeting and invited 4 colleagues. Over the course of another 2 hours, the ‘task force’ went through the plan, the actions and who would do what, by when.
At the end of the meeting, Serena asked each member of the team whether they had any concerns or issues, and resolved the few that came up.
The task force was ready. They agreed that they would meet every morning at 8:30 AM to carry out a review and plan the activities for the day.
STEP 2 : Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” The better the preparation, the more reliable the result.
Communicate. Then, Communicate Again.
Before leaving for the day, Anwar sent the detailed plan to Rajesh. He then asked for a call.
Anwar then called the lawyers and bankers involved in the deal and informed them of the situation. They agreed that they would meet the next day at 10:00 AM at Anwar’s office and discuss the plan.
Rajesh called Anwar after dinner. Anwar took Rajesh through the plan, the people in the task force, the timelines and the areas of concern.
Rajesh asked a few questions, but could not find anything amiss. Anwar and Rajesh agreed to have two catch-up calls every day, one at lunch time and one just after dinner.
Rajesh informed Anwar that he had already spoken to the CEO of the target company and informed him of his unavailability, and of Anwar’s nomination as lead.
The next morning, Anwar and the task force met at 8:30 AM. They agreed on the specific tasks to be completed that day. They agreed to catch up just before lunch for a quick review and once at 6:00 PM, before the close of the day.
Then, Anwar and Serena met with the the lawyers and the bankers and took them through the plan. Anwar asked them to allocate their team members for each of the items that needed their inputs, which they did. They agreed that they would have a catch-up call every afternoon at 5:00 PM.
Anwar requisitioned one of the meeting rooms for the next week, and put up the plan and timelines on the whiteboard, so that it was accessible and visible to everyone involved.
STEP 3 : Proactively communicate. Avoid surprises. Remember Bill Gates’ words, “Like a human being, a company has to have a robust internal communication mechanism, a ‘nervous system’ to coordinate its actions.” The more transparent the communication, the more reliable the teamwork.
Initiate & Close
Anwar uploaded the plan and timelines onto his mobile phone, as a task list. Every 2 hours or so, he would check this, and evaluate progress.
Each time an item was reported as completed, Anwar sent a message to the task force, and asked for acceptance from everyone that the item was closed. This served both as confirmation as well as information to the team to move to the next step.
On Thursday, the team were to receive a notarised document from the target company. They did not. Anwar did not waste time calling or following up. He informed Serena and drove to the company’s office. There, he asked to see the CEO and CFO, and explained the issue and the importance. The CFO and he drafted and finalized the document and together, went to a nearby notary and notarized the document. Anwar thanked the CFO and returned to his office with the required document.
By Friday, 26 of the 30 items were completed. Anwar filed documented evidence of each closure in a folder in his desk drawer. The morning meeting was full of anticipation – the finish line was near!
By late Friday evening, all the items were closed. All that remained was the formal signing. Anwar reported to Serena and together, they called Rajesh and updated him of progress.
Rajesh, in his turn, gave them an update of his situation. His father was better, but he needed to stay in Delhi till Monday evening. They agreed that Serena would be the authorized signatory for the signing. After the call, Rajesh and Serena got onto a call with the CEO of the target company and informed him that Serena would preside over the signing ceremony.
On Monday, Serena signed the deal. Anwar stood behind her, a sense of relief and achievement writ large on his face.
STEP 4 : Initiative and closure are the bookends of reliability and success. The best way to finish strong is to start strong. The more the initiative, the more reliable the closure.
How To Be Reliable
Being reliable is not rocket science. Let’s recap. It is about 4 STEPS –
- Understanding expectations
- Planning and prioritizing
- Communicating, and finally,
- Taking initiative and closing what we start
Reliability is an amazing quality. Reliable people get and keep friends more easily, forge deeper relationships, receive the best opportunities, are granted more autonomy at work, have more self-confidence and live with integrity.
I hope you will be able to use the 4 STEPS to make yourself indispensable to the people around you – to be the ‘go to’ person, the person others value, respect and promote.
(BTW, today, Anwar is the CEO of a maritime services group in Singapore.)
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Lets start now!! Score yourself from 1-10 for each of the 4 STEPS. Every step that gets a perfect 10, celebrate it in your comments, so that others are encouraged to move towards a perfect score. No perfect score? Write to me and schedule a free 30 min reliability check!
Cheers | Shesh | Singapore | 17 March 2020.
Post Script :
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