The nucleus of an atom contains positively charged protons which repel each other.
Splitting an atom unleashes a “binding energy” that otherwise holds its nucleus together. That power is huge and exists in hidden or dormant form and it is continually released today in 436 nuclear power plants as well as in nuclear powered submarines around the world. Is there similar power which can be released in your organization? Yes there is!
It is called discretionary effort, the value-producing work that can be voluntarily withheld or contributed. How much of that latent capacity is released depends directly on leadership effectiveness. Are you an “atom splitter” for your organization?
In their book, Putting the Work Ethic to Work, Daniel Yankelovich and John Immerwahr reported on a 1983 poll of U.S. workers which found that 44% of them said they were putting in as little effort as they could get away with without being fired. Has that changed much in 2024? What do you think? Is that minimal effort in those individuals due to character flaws or due to suboptimized leadership?
The chart below illustrates the leadership challenge. The difference between current effort and current capability is discretionary effort. If everyone in the organization is 100% engaged physically and intellectually the maximum value for the firm will be achieved. But how do you get there?
Leaders everywhere have important business objectives and goals but seldom do we measure organizational health. Our duty to the company we serve, and to the followers we lead, is to bring about the highest levels of team cohesiveness and maturity. There are crucial levels of development to bring about, a maturing, from focus on self, to focus on the team, and ultimately to focus on the larger system, the system of highly interdependent teams that embrace commitment and accountability to the organization’s vision, values and goals for success.
Famous British Historian, Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975), who studied the emergence and decline of civilizations, explains, “In order to change apathy into enthusiasm you need two things, first, an ideal that takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan to transform that ideal into reality.” Do you have a compelling overarching vision that binds organization members together in a common cause? Leaders point to where we’re going and influence others to follow. Your vision must clearly define core values, the handful of guiding principles by which the company navigates. It must explain a core purpose, your organization’s fundamental reason for being. It must include a definite intelligible plan, an ambitious plan that revs up the entire organization. It must preserve the core and stimulate progress. The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18a KJV). Casting a vision is the leader’s highest duty.
Bill Bispeck has more leadership guidance on his website, Success Advisory Group.
