Yesterday we focused on the importance of, and managers’ responsibility for, continually building their people, so they are ready for the challenges their company will face in the future, as opposed to firing them for having the wrong skill-set.

Later on I was discussing the whole terminate vs. develop thing with EMANIO CEO KG Charles-Harris and he made an interesting comment.

There is no question that creating a good culture is essential and underinvested in.  However, there are cultural biases in the US that are different from some other countries.  And while there is something to be said for the extreme success of American business, my background is in Sweden, which has the highest number of multinationals per capita. Clearly there is something that a country of 9 million is doing right.  

While there are plenty of companies that do it right and studies to prove that doing it right is good for the bottom line, US companies are infamous for short-term thinking driven by Wall Street’s quarterly mentality.

Even when the right culture and supporting policies are in place managers at all levels need to monitor and make sure that the managers under them are encouraging their people to take advantage of them and often that doesn’t happen.
Further, great culture isn’t self-sustaining; it needs thought and TLC so it can grow and change as the company grows and changes, without losing the traits that make it great.

But if a culture that supports building people pays off, why doesn’t it happen more often?

The simple, but sad, answer is that building and sustaining a great culture that develops its people, as opposed to considering them expendable, is work—and people are lazy.

Flickr image credit: Yarik. OK

I was talking with Tom Wohlmut and, in the course of the conversation, he passed on a great line that I’d like to share with you.

“Give a fool a tool and you’ll still have a fool.”

A sage comment, frequently forgotten in our tech-happy world.

But how does this wisdom impact you, as a manager?

To start with, it warns that you can’t fix an underperforming person or group by showering them with outside tools, whether technology, social media or another silver bullet du jour.

And you can’t fix everybody.

If, in fact, you truly hired a fool, or what’s passing for one, then you have a responsibility to yourself, your group, and the person you hired to unhire him before too much damage is done.

However, the majority of fools really aren’t fools; they’re lost souls looking for a path to productivity and personal satisfaction.

Most people want to do their work well and they want to feel good about what they do.

It’s not simple or easy or always fun, but that’s your real job as a manager

It’s not just your responsibility, but your honor, to guide them to the path out of fooldom and into becoming an appreciated member of a powerful team.

It’s also one of the most satisfying experiences you can have.

Image credit: Cubwolf (Dave Smith) on flickr