image courtesy of Claudio Salvalaio, Brazil

Sometimes, when we work without role clarity, we can find ourselves feeling like everything is a jumbled mess, much like a stew with all the good bits thrown in.  It isn’t awful, in fact it’s sometimes comfortable and easy, but you don’t get to taste the uniqueness of all the different flavours.  When it comes to food, the intermingled flavours are great, when it comes to business it can be a flat-out mess.

I once worked for a company that was a little unclear in what roles everyone was to play in the organization, thus it all seemed to get mixed up.  In their minds it was a messy sort of interdepartmental collaboration, but what it really amounted to was ineffective action and a lot of wheel spinning.  Very little was accomplished and even fewer decisions were made.  Why?  Because no one was a true steward of their role – marketing, sales, proposals, operations, projects all intermingled with each other stealing the flavour from one to another as the situation seemed to suit various individuals.  Nosy folks who wanted a piece of the pie would claim responsibility at the profit margin end of the game but claimed no responsibility for angry customers or actions gone wrong, thus passing the buck.

Webster’s Dictionary describes the word Stewardship as a noun; I prefer to reflect on it as a verb, performing the actions of being a Steward.

Being the Steward is about being responsible and accountable for a piece of the business – owning it.  Stewardship refers to the actions every person in that piece of the business performs in order for it to go smoothly.  Without clarity and set boundaries around who is responsible for what, a company’s going to experience a lot of “passing the buck” (or covering the butt) and those actions will start becoming a focus for frustrated employees rather than the work itself.  This is not how collaboration and innovation are derived; a stew-like atmosphere holds greater potential to develop a culture of mistrust and internal competition.

Here are some ways to promote Stewardship within your company:

• Define clear roles – and I say again – define clear roles.
• Create an environment for autonomy and an understanding of just which decisions a Steward is allowed to make and then hold the Steward accountable for the results.
• Empower the Steward to support their team-members with tools necessary to best accomplish their jobs.
• Be willing to fire the person(s) who hold a large wooden spoon and are constantly trying to stir things up but take little or no responsibility for their actions (or worse yet, are covert or underhanded in their actions).
• Get rid of bullies. Period
• Bring in a facilitator to help your teams learn what true collaboration looks like, then support putting it into practice.
• Celebrate your true Stewards – and recognize they are not always the ones who bring in the biggest dollars.

Does your company celebrate Stewardship?

NOTE: If you don’t know who the bullies are (or who is covert or secretly stirring the pot), simply ask your front-line workers where their greatest frustrations lie – eventually a path will lead back to that sneaky little whirlpool sucking down everything in it’s path.

Patti is a strategic advisor in Leadership, Customer Service and Cultural integration through Mergers and Acquisition. You can book her to speak at her personal page.  Need Strategic Sense for your business? – hire us for Leadership Development of individuals, teams, group training and company strategy. Happy Workplaces Succeed, take the path to get there. (403) 201-8512