A special tribute to a role model of mine.
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni
I. Discipline I – Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team
A. Are meetings compelling? Are important issues being discussed during meetings?
B. Do team members engage in unguarded debate? Do they honestly confront one another?
C. Do team members apologize if they get out of line? Do they ever get out of line?
D. Do team members understand one another?
E. Do team members avoid gossiping about one another?
II. Discipline II – Create Organizational Clarity
A. What behavioral values are irreplaceable and fundamental?
B. What business are we in, and against whom do we compete?
C. How does our approach differ from that of our competition?
D. What are our goals this month, this quarter, this year, next year, five years from now?
E. Who has to do what for us to achieve our goals this month, this quarter, this year, next year, five years from now?
F. Why does the organization exist and what difference to the world doe it make?
III. Discipline III – Over-Communicate Organization Clarity
A. How Does an Executive Team Effectively Over-Communicate?
B. Repetition – 6 Times.
C. Simple Messages – Don’t confuse employees.
E. How does a leader go about providing the detail and context ofr those messages? (Multiple Mediums.)
F. How Do You Assess Your Organization for Effective Over-Communication?
IV. Discipline IV – Reinforce Organizational Clarity Through Human Systems
A. Is there a process for interviewing candidates and debriefing those interviews as a team?
B. Are there consistent behavioral interview question that are asked across every department?
C. Is there a consistent process for managing the performance of employees across the organization?
D. Do we spend time evaluating employees’ behavior versus the organization’s values and goals?
E. Do managers and employees willingly participate in the system?
F. Is the a consistent process for determining rewards and recognition for employees?
G. Are there consistent criteria for removing employees from the organization?
H. Are there employees ever terminated because they are a poor fit within the organization’s vaules?
By Patrick Lencioni
