Tips for Effective Workplace Communication: The 1/99 Leader to Follower Ratio

Some experts tell us that for every leader there are ninety-nine followers. When communicating with staff members, it helps to know where these people fall within the 1-99 category. The two extremes may require a different way of communicating, and therefore everything else. The same tool can be used when it comes to identifying your company’s leaders. Everyone’s expectations will be different too, both from their point of view and from yours.

One of the most neglected management skills is the RECOGNITION skill: recognizing the potential in your people. Many companies have highly trained employees who are treated like they just got out of school. The 1’s are treated as the 99’s. This is a fatal move! It’s a good way for the company to lose what Robert E. Kelley called gold-collar workers in his book “The Golden-Neck Worker: Harnessing the Brainpower of the New Workforce.”

Knowing this ratio of 1/99 will help identify whether an individual falls into the 1% or 99%, or somewhere in between. Some may already be there and not being used to their full capacity. They may not be recognized or may actually look dwarfed.

An example of not recognizing a ready-made leader is when an individual joins a company after having had their own business for many years. In the capacity of owning a business, that person has likely learned and acquired management or leadership skills. But, in tough times, that person can take on a lower-level position, even an administrative job, at a company, temporarily. The hiring manager looks at the resume at the time of the interview, hires the person, and never looks at the resume again, even though all executive/managerial skills are clearly illustrated.

As the employee shares and demonstrates his knowledge in the work process and problem solving, he is ignored by management because of his current position. In other words, a person might be an order taker but have years of experience dealing with high-powered executives, making presentations, closing deals, leading a sales team, and monitoring financial statements, projections, and budgets.

This is not uncommon in this day and age. Many have lost businesses in the 1980s and 1990s and have never been able to get them back because starting a business is not like it was in the 1960s and 1970s. They may have to work for a while at lower jobs until they can get back to their level. But during that time they are taken for granted instead of being harvested in productive critical positions.

These entrepreneurial types can’t wait years to move up, they’ve already had their training, they already think at higher levels – operating at lower levels of employees and subordinates is utterly frustrating for them. “Once expanded, the mind cannot return to its original size.” They need to be recognized and consequently move fast. Companies must develop these gold mines immediately or lose them. Unfortunately, most managers miss them because they haven’t been trained to recognize the skilled and talented. They got there doing their job, knowing about your service or product line, but unfortunately, that’s all they know: your “line.” They have not trained themselves to know beyond that.

I remember a short-term contract for a multi-billion dollar corporation. In my interview with the operations manager, they asked me about my PhD that was listed on my resume. We briefly talked about it and moved on. They hired me and after several months, when I finished my contract, the same manager asked me for my phone number, in case he needed any information. When I handed him my business card, he saw the Ph.D. and said with a surprised look and tone, “Ph.D.?” I said: “You knew it!” He had completely forgotten about it. That’s how insignificant it was to him when he interviewed me. The whole time I was there, they never took me down to my level. I had to do my job as asked, nothing more, nothing less. My views and comments meant nothing, even when they were good, they weren’t explored further. I was there to do a specific job and that was it.

It is always up to senior management to create the environment to recognize these people, for the good of the company. Unfortunately, most managers don’t see this. Some of the immediate managers or supervisors may even feel threatened by someone who may know more than they do, so they will not promote their ability. The less you ask questions and the less you talk to them, the better for these managers. Just do what you have to do. Andrew Carnegie’s epitaph reads: “Here lies a man who recruited better people to his service.” It should be placed on the desk of each manager.

I know of another organization where top management made snide comments to their managers in management meetings like “we have all these managers, but the company has to bring in outside consultants to fix the problems.” And they did. These people came and went. They would walk around doing their interviews and digs, then make their recommendations, and company managers who had been there for years would be expected to follow.

However, top management did not listen to the suggestions and ideas of their managers, who knew what needed to be done (a prophet is not welcome in his own country). They just needed their leaders to listen to them and say “Okay, let’s do it”, get behind them, support them, encourage them, give them the environment to do it, in other words, empower them! In this company (and in many companies) there is no leader who organizes a “brainstorming” meeting or “think tank” where everyone is encouraged to speak their mind without being shot down.

What external consultants propose in most cases has already been suggested or thought of by their own people, but has never been allowed to come forward.

In a company, one day a memo appeared in the email, addressed to everyone. He announced that, effective immediately, all external correspondence must be sent to a general secretary for review and registration. Imagine, you as a manager, receiving such a mandate! This was a world class organization. Talk about empowering your people. This is debilitating and even insulting. Needless to say, no one conformed to this draconian mandate. However, it wasn’t really the organization but a department manager who just wasn’t ready for leadership, and there was no one there to train her.

There are many leaders and potential leaders out there. The relationship varies from company to company. Some organizations may attract a higher number of leaders than the 1/99 average. Your ratio can be 2 out of 99 or 10 out of 99! In many high-tech companies today, every employee is a manager-level worker. These companies deal with specialized and high caliber people. It is up to these companies to identify their relationship and provide the right environment to direct these special people to the appropriate positions. But first, managers need to develop themselves in the art of people management and recognition, and not be afraid to “snoop” or “fish” for these existing talents./dmh