This recent post from Wally Bock seemed like a great way to wrap up this week’s commentary about values and bosses.

Alan Turing made many contributions to the Allied effort in World War II and to the many fields that have coalesced into computer science. He’s best known among laypeople like me for his “Turing Test,” a test of whether a computer can exhibit intelligent behavior like a human being.

My question for you is: “Could you pass such a test?” If I watched you work for a few hours, would it be obvious that you were a human being and not some kind of AI-powered, cyborg-boss?

In my career I’ve seen too many bosses who couldn’t. They imagined their job as passing on instructions and enforcing regulations. One of their favorite phrases is “I have no choice …”

Most bosses aren’t that way. They may not get everything right, but it’s clear that they’re human beings struggling to do the right thing. That’s probably where you fit, but let’s check. Is it obvious that you’re a real human being or do you act like a walking, talking bunch of algorithms?

Do you take time to have frequent conversations with your team members where you do something more than just pass on directives?

Do you strive to be fair to everyone while you make adjustments for individual strengths, weaknesses, and preferences?

Do you argue for your team or team member when something comes down from above that’s wrong or unfair?

Do you help your team members grow, develop, and succeed?

Boss’s Bottom Line

Human bosses who act intelligently are the best for human beings. That means more than passing on instructions and enforcing rules and standards. Show your humanity by acknowledging the emotion in the workplace and by using both your brain and your heart

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What is the source of words

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In 2006, before I took over Leadership Turn, Mary Jo Manzanares wrote a post called Team Building & Interpersonal Communication; Saturday, Steven J Barker brought up an interesting point and suggested that we explore it.

“I would be interested to hear your thoughts on differences between personal ownership and group ownership. From first glance those differences seem subtle, but I have a feeling that they are far reaching.”

I thought about that, not just in the context that Mary Jo wrote it, but in the larger one of companies and individuals with whom I’ve worked over the years and here is what strikes me.

I think the difference isn’t just far reaching, but of critical importance because they can be dangerous to the organization.

How so?

Think of group ownership as a form of nationalism with the company in place of the country.

Now think of personal ownership as an ideology.

As long as the nationalism and individual ideologies are aligned or, at the very least, synergistic, then the organization benefits.

But when they are in conflict disagreements become wars, whether overt or covert, energy is wasted, productivity lost and progress comes to a grinding halt.

You have only to look around the world to see how inflexible ideologies tear countries apart and set one part against the other.

The solution to this starts by hiring people that are good fits with the company’s culture. That doesn’t mean they always agree—the last thing you want is a homogenized team—but it does mean that they are flexible enough to put the company first, and their personal ideology second.

Another critical factor in keeping the various ownerships aligned is communication.

By providing complete understanding of the company’s goals, how each person can best contribute to their accomplishment and how those contributions will help achieve the individual’s own goals unites the team and helps it achieve more than any member thought possible.

What else would you do to increase ownership convergence?

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Whether you’re the CEO of a Fortune 100 or the owner of a small biz you need a senior staff. “Senior staff” doesn’t necessarily mean a bunch of vice presidents (although, for convenience, I’m going to use that title in this post), but it does mean the top people in your company who manage different functions (with or without staff). They are the people the CEO relies on

• as a sounding board;
• for both tactical and strategic intelligence;
• to tell it like it is—even when he doesn’t want to hear it
• to see and understand the big picture;
• to lead the effort in employee acquisition, motivation, and retention;
• to support and strengthen the culture she envisioned;
• to not sabotage another group or start a turf war, and
• to help stamp out politics whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.

And more, but you get the idea.

The first item on your agenda when creating a senior staff is to determine what parts of your business/company (beyond the standard ones of finance, development, marketing, and sales) need to report directly to the CEO for peak performance. You never want function that is truly critical to our success reporting through, and responsible to, someone else, because personal agendas can get in the way.

It may be customer service (or whatever it’s called); it could be IT; if you are large enough to have a real HR department (not just a benefits admin) it should definitely report directly. Support functions are often left to report to the CFO, which can prevent them from being used fro real strategic advantage.

Where does one find talented VPs? Now and then you’ll be lucky enough to actually hire one complete with all the bells and whistles, but more likely you will find a current VP, or talented director, with some of them, or with the right potential.

Be aware that one of the main things that sets good VPs apart from other managers is a strong strategic ability, that means they see the entire team and understand how their department fits into the whole. I’ve known many C-level executives who never grasp this, as well as director level (and lower) managers who get it.

All of your staff needs a real understanding of business, including financials, and it’s your responsibility, as their manager, to make sure that they get whatever training and information is needed to do their job as a member of your senior staff.

Further, if you want the most powerful senior staff possible cross train them in each others functions and challenges. Think of the phenomenal value of a CFO who understands the intricacies of manufacturing as more than a set of numbers; a VP of Engineering who understands financials and inventory turns; an HR head who understands what actually happens in the different departments, etc.

Think of the power inherent in a senior staff that understands what it takes to turn an idea into a product and a product into revenue.

Think of what a difference it would make to your ability to do your own job.