I lead a team of 30 scientists and assistants. I’m trying to apply my self coaching to leadership and struggling separating my emotional attachment from their results. Their results come from their models, and our teams overall performance is a collection of their results. If we don’t meet our performance benchmarks, then I feel responsible.

I can understand that I ultimately get to chose how I feel by my thinking. But what about the times we repeatedly fall below performance measures as a team even after education, training, coaching, etc? What feels defeating is that as a leader I’m working with team members to achieve results, but their results are from their models, I don’t have control over their models.

All I have is influence and when we fall below performance standards I feel like a failure as a leader because I was ineffective at leading the team. I’m trying to understand the interplay between leadership – team – manuals and models.

An example:

My Model

C: Order to collection turnaround time is met 50% of time.
T: We need to improve that number.
F: Determined
A: Facilitate Process Improvement Event
R: Tools, policies, work standards, resources are implemented for improvement

Team member model

C: Tools, policies, work standards, resources are implemented for improvement
T, F, A – whatever this may be that creates
R: no improvement from order to collection turnaround time

My Model

C: no improvement from order to collection turnaround time
T, F, A – I can continue to think thoughts that will promote the PDSA cycle
R: tools, education, coaching for improvement

The cycle continues, my results become their circumstance and the team’s collective results becomes my circumstance. There eventually is a point where I need to quit ‘beating a dead horse’ and hold people accountable. In many ways I’m doing that through performance coaching. I’m not a fan of crime and punishment because I think it is often ineffective in business.

What I would rather have is ownership, obligation and investment from team members. In either situation my need becomes their circumstance, and I have no control over anything that follows. How is influence even a thing with respect to the Model? Curious to hear a coach’s thoughts. I don’t see much model use on leadership and direct reports relationships in SCS.