THE ham and egg breakfast delight is an old analogy that describes the difference between "commitment" and "involvement." It is said that the chicken is involved as it gives the eggs that we want without losing its life. But, the pig is committed because it loses life to give us ham.
In the corporate world, some people would claim that workers are involved but not as committed as their managers who are earning more than 20 times more than their subordinates.
How about their chief executive officer (CEO) who could be earning 30 to 50 times more than a wage earner?
This came to me when Miriam (not her real name), the CEO of a family owned factory, hired me to do a Kaizen consulting project. I told her I can't do in-person consulting due to the pandemic and proposed to do a teleconsultation instead. She agreed.
After a series of email exchanges, we lined up a result-based online workshop in three consecutive Mondays, totaling three hours per day of mentoring their managers and key officials.
The rest of the week is set for doing their "homework."
After Miriam delivered her inspirational message, she stayed on for more than three hours on the first day to listen to my online monologue punctuated with mini-case studies, short video clips, thought-provoking exercises and question-and-answer forum. It looks like she would attend all the remaining sessions. I wish many CEOs would be committed to do that.
Leadership by example
It is essential to understand that the key in the success of any corporate undertaking is the active and physical presence of the CEO, not by giving speeches, but to show the pure commitment of a pig. Leadership guru and pioneering scholar Warren Bennis (1925-2014) said, "Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality." And the only way to make that vision a reality is to have a committed CEO. But that's only possible if a leader is the same person as a storyteller as told by Bennis in his Harvard Business Review article on "The Leader as Storyteller" (1996).
Miriam knows leadership by example is the key. It's the same formula I used to tell my audience about the lessons of other CEOs in the toothpaste factory, the busy airport coffee shop, the bad office layout in the immigration bureau, man's social conformity habit and Japan's square watermelon, among other stories.
Speaking of Japan, we've found almost anything about Japanese businesses as the best, if not one of the best providers of quality products and services. With very few exceptions, Japan has become an important supplier, customer and competitor, according to Peter Drucker (1909-2005) in the Harvard Business Review (1971).
Drucker said Japan is also a good "teacher" of many best practices decision-making and problem-solving toward quality and productivity improvement. That's why it's no surprise that we see many Japanese CEOs doing their daily ritual of going to the shop floor or back office to understand the workers' concerns with some of them going to the extent of helping clean their toilet, if necessary.
Philippine Quality Award
I'm not saying that all CEOs should clean the toilet, if only to emphasize the imperatives of leadership by example. This should not be taken literally. In a complex world, however, the challenge is that an average CEO could shift their mindset to being committed or involved, depending on convenience and priority, among others.
More than that, we've to understand that the size of an organization depends much on how its CEO would display their commitment toward making their vision a reality. Even the CEO of a nonprofit organization would not go to the extent of spreading themselves too thinly for being a volunteer, unless they're highly motivated by a bigger dream of making a difference in the society.
So, what's the best model for leadership? The Philippine Quality Award (PQA), the equivalent of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award of the US, that provides the template.
The PQA criteria highlights "leadership" among its seven categories and defines how senior leaders' personnel actions guide and sustain an organization and its governance system.
One final point for the CEO who wants to be committed. It's not about money. If you want your workers to do their job, don't promise a promotion or give them merit increases.
Instead, be physically present in whatever they're doing and calibrate your presence in due time as soon as you see irreversible progress.
Rey Elbo is a business consultant in human resources and total quality management as a fused interest. Have a chat with him on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or send feedback to elbonomics@gmail.com or via You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.
In the corporate world, some people would claim that workers are involved but not as committed as their managers who are earning more than 20 times more than their subordinates.
How about their chief executive officer (CEO) who could be earning 30 to 50 times more than a wage earner?
This came to me when Miriam (not her real name), the CEO of a family owned factory, hired me to do a Kaizen consulting project. I told her I can't do in-person consulting due to the pandemic and proposed to do a teleconsultation instead. She agreed.
After a series of email exchanges, we lined up a result-based online workshop in three consecutive Mondays, totaling three hours per day of mentoring their managers and key officials.
The rest of the week is set for doing their "homework."
After Miriam delivered her inspirational message, she stayed on for more than three hours on the first day to listen to my online monologue punctuated with mini-case studies, short video clips, thought-provoking exercises and question-and-answer forum. It looks like she would attend all the remaining sessions. I wish many CEOs would be committed to do that.
Leadership by example
It is essential to understand that the key in the success of any corporate undertaking is the active and physical presence of the CEO, not by giving speeches, but to show the pure commitment of a pig. Leadership guru and pioneering scholar Warren Bennis (1925-2014) said, "Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality." And the only way to make that vision a reality is to have a committed CEO. But that's only possible if a leader is the same person as a storyteller as told by Bennis in his Harvard Business Review article on "The Leader as Storyteller" (1996).
Miriam knows leadership by example is the key. It's the same formula I used to tell my audience about the lessons of other CEOs in the toothpaste factory, the busy airport coffee shop, the bad office layout in the immigration bureau, man's social conformity habit and Japan's square watermelon, among other stories.
Speaking of Japan, we've found almost anything about Japanese businesses as the best, if not one of the best providers of quality products and services. With very few exceptions, Japan has become an important supplier, customer and competitor, according to Peter Drucker (1909-2005) in the Harvard Business Review (1971).
Drucker said Japan is also a good "teacher" of many best practices decision-making and problem-solving toward quality and productivity improvement. That's why it's no surprise that we see many Japanese CEOs doing their daily ritual of going to the shop floor or back office to understand the workers' concerns with some of them going to the extent of helping clean their toilet, if necessary.
Philippine Quality Award
I'm not saying that all CEOs should clean the toilet, if only to emphasize the imperatives of leadership by example. This should not be taken literally. In a complex world, however, the challenge is that an average CEO could shift their mindset to being committed or involved, depending on convenience and priority, among others.
More than that, we've to understand that the size of an organization depends much on how its CEO would display their commitment toward making their vision a reality. Even the CEO of a nonprofit organization would not go to the extent of spreading themselves too thinly for being a volunteer, unless they're highly motivated by a bigger dream of making a difference in the society.
So, what's the best model for leadership? The Philippine Quality Award (PQA), the equivalent of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award of the US, that provides the template.
The PQA criteria highlights "leadership" among its seven categories and defines how senior leaders' personnel actions guide and sustain an organization and its governance system.
One final point for the CEO who wants to be committed. It's not about money. If you want your workers to do their job, don't promise a promotion or give them merit increases.
Instead, be physically present in whatever they're doing and calibrate your presence in due time as soon as you see irreversible progress.
Rey Elbo is a business consultant in human resources and total quality management as a fused interest. Have a chat with him on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or send feedback to elbonomics@gmail.com or via You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.