Flight of the Buffalo (From the Book)
Soaring
to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead
Book By James A. Belasco and Ralph C. Stayer
October 2005
The authors use
examples of herds of buffalo and flocks of geese to explain old and new
leadership paradigms. When a head buffalo is killed, the herd just stands
around, not knowing what to do. However, when the lead goose is killed, other
geese are able to take over and the flock can keep on flying.
A flock of geese
represents the new leadership paradigm, which has these principles:
» Leaders transfer ownership for work to
those who execute the work.
» Leaders create the environment for
ownership where each person wants to be responsible.
» Leaders coach the development of personal
capabilities.
» Leaders learn fast themselves and
encourage others also to learn quickly.
In addition to these
principles, there were several persistent themes throughout book:
» A leader must learn that in most
instances he or she is the problem.
» The customer is the boss.
» Think strategically. Start with what you
need for your customer and work backwards.
» Everyone must be a leader to have
effective leadership.
Of course it all starts
with the leader, and the leader will often need a coach to be able to see that
he or she needs to get out of the way for employees to have a chance to make
things work more efficiently. The authors see many leaders who have “fix them”
attitudes, when in reality, it is the leader who needs to change.
As the authors
discovered, ordering an organization to operate differently can be like asking
buffalo to fly. It is a slow process that must start by asking the people
involved what the leader is doing to prevent them from assuming responsibility
and performing at a higher level.
The authors offer a
method “for transforming buffalo into geese…the Leading the Journey (LTJ)
leadership system.” The model is based on four leadership activities:
Determining Focus and Direction, Removing Obstacles, Developing Ownership and
Stimulating Self-Directed Action.
Determining the Focus
Start with the
consumers. Ask them what they want. Ask how you can help them be a great
performer. Look at your competition as your best friend. Examine their
strategies and yours from your customer’s perspectives. Are you creating value
for your customer? Are you focusing on a few problems and ignoring the rest?
Removing Obstacles
The first thing to do
is ask your people for their input, using this performance management model:
(1) the manager determines the overall parameters/objectives, (2) performers
and customers set standards, and (3) expectations are reduced to a specific
measurable number. An information system is necessary to tell the employees how
they are doing, in real time. A reward system must be aligned and considered
fair and motivational.
Developing Ownership
The boss’s desk may be
where the buck stops, but it is important that it is not also where it begins.
Delegation of authority can be tricky if the recipient is unwilling or facing
ownership for the first time. The leader’s task is summarized in four letters:
FCLP. "In every possible situation, Focus Conversation on Learning about
Performance." The authors define success as "ownership for the right
responsibilities by the right people."
Stimulating Self-Directed
Actions
If possible, leaders
should prevent problems, not solve them. One of the best ways to do this is to
reward people for solving their own problems rather than rewarding people for
bringing them to you. It is also important to eliminate nonessential parts of
the business. Simplify operations as much as possible and measure what you want
to get done. Expect very high standards. Put the right people in the right
positions.
Conclusion
The authors conclude
with a discussion on the importance of learning. It frequently involves leaving
your “comfort zone” and trying new things and moving faster than you or your
colleagues are ready to move. When worried about making mistakes, they quote
(without attribution) "he who makes no mistakes ends up making
nothing."
I really like the
symbols of the buffalo and the geese. I like the very human touch of the
admission the authors make that they have their buffalo “V’d” up, as in the
format of a flock of geese, but they have not yet taken off. There is even an
admission that from time to time their head buffalo mentality comes back
without warning. Nonetheless, they make compelling arguments for empowerment
and continuous learning.
This may not bother
most people, but I found it very disconcerting that the book is written in the
first person, even though there are two authors. They explain this by saying
that they think alike and have had similar experiences, but I could never quite
get over wondering who “I” was in many of the stories, and I found that it detracted
from the message.
