If you are a financial manager, a big part of your job is to keep your clients WAY AWAY from debt or any threat of it. When and if their accounts decline in value, you must get cracking on a solution or at least be on red alert. There will always be a cause for such a decline in assets. It could be poor decisions on behalf of your client, poor economic conditions, emergencies, etc. A decline is never welcomed, but certainly can be turned around to a rapid recovery. Although, if the decline goes into the debt category, the negative ripple effect will be long lasting horrors and the recovery process is much more difficult.
This does not just happen with money, this happens with people.
I see leaders as a type of financial manager. It's not always from a money management standpoint. Leaders have responsibility for various types of accounts. Chances are definite - if you have more than a single person on your team, you have more than one common value. Different people have different values. If you only have three people on your team, you very likely have 3 different values from each individual. Sure there will be some value overlap (this is a good thing), but there will be enough differences. Differences that require you to work like a financial manager.
The values that your people have are like financial accounts. The values of your people need to be realized as appreciable and it is our job as leaders to grow their individual account. For example, let's say that Jessica most values encouragement from her boss more than a pay raise or even vacation time. For one, Jessica's boss needs to know what she values most and should have found this out within her first few days with the organization. Secondly her boss should provide real time encouragement immediately after success is reached AND along the way. You see encouragement for Jessica is high octane fuel that she performs on. If you lead her in such a way, her account will grow and have compounding results. The entire team will benefit from this, the biz results will show it and Jessica will be a customer favorite.
On the other hand, if the leader does not encourage Jessica and make deposits into her "values account"; she will eventually go in debt. Not only can she not give what she does not have (unable to inspire others)...she is in emotional debt, her results are poor, the people around her are discouraged, the customer is unhappy and the boss is ticked off. Many times this detrimental scenario is that boss' fault.
The leader has to know each persons individual value account. They must make deposits to this account and not let it go anywhere near debt. Leaders stand a much better chance achieving biz results when the accounts are in surplus. This brings "adding value or multiplying value" to a literal understanding.
I have never met anyone who said they had too much money in their account and you will not meet any one in an organization that says: "Our people are too inspired!"
I have seen people in financial debt, ugghhh not a fun conversation. I have seen organizations in emotional debt...ugghhh not a fun and growing organization.
Ask yourself:
1) Do I know the individual values of my people?
2) Am I making deposits into their accounts?
3) Who on my team is in debt?
Great post, Ryan. That whole concept of relational bank accounts has helped us a lot...in business and in life. Teenage girls can go into debt in a myriad of ways!
Posted by: Marla | March 26, 2008 at 01:34 AM
All people deserve very good life and mortgage loans or term loan will make it better. Because freedom relies on money state.
Posted by: EvaAlston | July 15, 2010 at 12:05 AM