The Single Biggest Factor in Long-Term Organizational Success


Factors of organizational success:

Jim Collins says the key factors for success include:

  1. Getting the right people on the bus
  2. Getting the right people in the right seats.
  3. Getting the wrong people off the bus.



Organizations ask, “How do managers get more out of people?”


Boss to coach:

The BEST managers are coaches, not bosses. Jim Clifton and Jim Harter say there are three requirements of coaching.

  1. Establish expectations.
  2. Continually coach.
  3. Create accountability.

3 tips for shifting from boss to coach:

#1. Understand the dance between freedom and intervention.

Give high performers freedom. Intervene when performance lags.

Intervention isn’t oppression or punishment. It might mean weekly one-on-ones, instead of monthly.

#2. Overcome the most difficult shift.

Solving problems for talented people devalues their talent. Over-helpfulness sucks the life out of talented people. Stop giving quick answers.

Coaches help people find their own answers. The old style of management, when people were tools, is to give them answers and expect conformity.

#3. Practice accountability that energizes people.

Accountability that energizes is self-imposed. We need to rise above the false notion that we can force people into high performance.

Noticing is healthy accountability. Walk around noticing performance as it relates to expectation.

Work that isn’t noticed goes down in value.

What factors enhance long-term organizational success?

How might managers bring out the best in people?

Added material: Coaching as a Management Style, by Zenger and Stinnett