Have you ever heard someone use the term, "soft stuff"? Well, what is the "soft stuff"? The "soft stuff" of business means different things to different people. One person may call it, "the stuff that is difficult to measure but every company wishes they had more of." Someone else may describe it as the actions, behaviors and policies that contribute positively or negatively to employee satisfaction. Yet another might describe it as "the ‘stuff’ the HR person is always on my back to do, the ‘stuff’ that gets in the way of getting the job done." The so-called "soft stuff" seems to be a catch-all phrase for the stuff not taught in business schools.

Broadly stated we are defining the "soft stuff" as the actions, behaviors, and policies that enable companies to bring out the best in their people. We can only define it broadly because the "soft stuff" is unique to every organization -- as unique as the organization’s culture or personality. The "soft stuff" is what will continue to separate the best companies from the rest. What we mean by, "making the soft stuff count", is taking decisive action bring out the best in people so that their contributions show up as improved organizational results.

So how does a company make the soft stuff count?

Each organization should carefully examine and create their own definition of leadership, one that fits their culture, their market, and their goals.

"A successful company depends on leadership. But we need a new definition of leadership and a new approach to providing it. In the past, the leader was the guy with the answers. Today, if you’re going to have a successful company, you have to recognize no leader can possibly have all the answers. The leader may have a vision. But the actual solutions about how best to meet the challenges of the moment have to be made by the people – the people "at the coal face" (frontline activities)."

"The leader has to find the way to empower these frontline people, to challenge them, to provide them with the resources they need, and then to hold them accountable. As they struggle with the details of this challenge, the leader becomes their coach, teacher and facilitator. Change how you define leadership, and you change how you run the company. Once folks at the grass roots find they own the problem, they find that they also own the answer – and they improve things very quickly, very aggressively, and very creatively, with a lot more ideas than the old-style leader could ever hand down from headquarters."

- Steve Miller, Group Managing Director, Royal Dutch Shell Group of Companies, Fast Company magazine April/May 1998

Although each company will define leadership slightly differently, we believe there will be one aspect of the definition common to most – the ability to facilitate. For organizations to bring out the best in their people, their leaders will need to possess the ability and capacity to facilitate groups and teams.

Facilitation as a leadership tool

Research (by Drucker, Peters, Kinlaw and others) has repeatedly shown that facilitation skills are one of the keys to unlocking individual and group member commitment and contribution.

A facilitative leader is one who:

• Knows when and how to involve others in decision-making
• Actively seeks ideas, opinions and input from others
• Leads the exchange of information so group understanding is built
• Teaches and coaches others, without telling them what to do
• Knows how to bring the right people together for a task
• Encourages team members to take responsibility for issues, problems, actions and projects

The following story illustrates how one leader recognizes his need for a change in leadership, and the steps he took.

The Joe Smith Story...

Monday, 8:55 a.m. Joe Smith, Director of Operations for WestWidget Manufacturing, makes his way to the organization’s bi-weekly senior management team meeting. As he enters the boardroom, Joe experiences a mild sense of anxiety. Normally a calm and confident manager, Joe is aware that today the performance of the plant under his direction will be under some scrutiny. He takes his usual seat and tries to appear his confident self.

9:15 a.m. After a second quarter financial review by the Controller, President Margaret Sampson clears her throat, then asks with even more directness than usual, "OK, Joe, now we’ve all seen the numbers. It’s as I predicted a month ago. Your performance for every production target you set when you pitched this new "latest-greatest" technology is off. It’s time we looked at what’s going on, and how you’re going to turn this thing around." There is noticeable tension in the room as everyone waits for Joe to respond.

Here’s the gist of it: WestWidget’s market share has been eroding over the past 15 months. Competition has been increasing, and production costs and delays have been wide-spread. In the nine months since the plant received significant capital investment with a technology upgrade, it is costing too much to produce the product (because of variances in quality), and there have been significant delays in filling customer orders (due to problems with the new production software program).

As Joe thinks of how to respond to Margaret’s question, he feels he is between a rock and a hard place. The software supplier helped Joe put the numbers together when he prepared the plant upgrade proposal, and assured him that the results were possible. Quite frankly, Joe has felt confused and frustrated himself at missing the targets. The fact that Joe has been so caught up in learning the new technology, and trying to problem solve all the glitches, he feels like he as lost touch with certain aspects of the plant.

9:25 a.m. "OK, give me 2 weeks and I’ll put together a comprehensive plan." As the team moves to the next agenda item, Joe tries to concentrate and ignore, for now, the nagging voice that’s saying, What on earth am I going to do?

10:10 a.m. As Joe heads back to his office after the meeting, he recognizes that the only way to get the results the company requires is to get his entire team on-side and pulling in the same direction. It won’t be easy. They are used to doing things the way they are told to do them. They keep their heads down and their ideas to themselves. Joe wonders how they are going to react when he asks them for help in improving things. It’s going to be a culture shock for them. But he has no alternative.

10:40 a.m. Joe arrives 10 minutes late for the Operations Meeting, mentally distracted, and his frustration rises as he sees three of the seven seats vacant. "Where on earth is everyone?" he growls. Without waiting for an answer, Joe goes on, "Well, there’s some heavy stuff coming down, and we’ve only got until 11:30, so let’s just get on with it."

11:15 a.m. After the usual business, Joe makes his first foray into getting some improvement ideas, giving the six managers present (the last two arrived at 10:45) a 5 minute overview of the magnitude of the problem. "So, that’s it. We’re all in this together.... what are we going to do about it?" Followed by a pregnant pause. Very few ideas were volunteered, and no one offered any optimism for turning things around. Joe was frustrated that the managers didn’t seem to get it, and was disappointed with their lack of contribution. He ended up cutting the meeting short.

11:25 a.m. Joe storms back to his office, confused and even more frustrated than before. He’s so used to telling them what to do. What’s worse, they are used to Joe telling them versus asking them, that the meeting was a disaster, and Joe knows it.

12:15 p.m. Joe finally has a few minutes to consider his problem, and feels overwhelmed with trying to determine what he should do next. Bob, his Production Manager for Process Unit Number Two, sticks his head in "Hey boss, this is quite a big problem we’re facing, eh?" "You’re not kidding," responds Joe.

"Well," continues Bob, "I think I could help you out here. My guys and I have a Production Meeting tomorrow morning, and they’re pretty good at problem solving. What do you say we let them tackle it?" "That would be nice", responds Joe, not necessarily convinced that this is the way to go, but with no other alternatives in mind, he may as well pursue it. "Someone needs to tackle it!"

"Great!" Bob replied, "Have you got 10 minutes to prep for it?" "Prep?" Joe asked. "Yeah, get clear on what we’re going to do," Bob explained. "Sure."

"OK, boss, the purpose of the meeting is to address the low production numbers, specifically with respect to quantity and quality of the production runs. Is that right?"

"Yeah, that’s exactly it, Bob."

"OK, that being the case, what exactly do we want to accomplish in the 1½ hour meeting? Because the way I want to run it is to hear my guys and take the time to get their input," says Bob.

Joe responds, "If they could at least understand the problem, and help figure out how to solve it, I’d be happy. But isn’t that what I just did with the Operations Meeting this morning? I didn’t see too many ideas coming out of that meeting!"

"I see what you’re saying, Joe," responds Bob, "but I’d like to try a different approach to get input that would bring out a few more ideas." "Well, at this point, I’m willing to try anything, Bob."

Hearing this, Bob says, "OK, let’s get the specific objectives down," swings his chair around, and starts to type an e-mail at his computer. "What are you doing?" questions Joe. "Well Joe, we always try to get the meeting purpose and objectives out ahead." "OK, that makes sense, I’m willing to give your method a try on this one," responds Joe, nodding his head, and pulling his chair up to the computer.

"Here’s what I see the meeting objectives are..." begins Bob. The two of them then spend about 10 minutes writing out the objectives, and ultimately agree on three, which Bob then e-mails to his team.

"I sure hope we don’t hear any more stupid ideas like investing another $50,000 in even newer technology!" Joe said.

Bob clarified, "So we’ve got to work with our existing equipment. That would be a non-negotiable, right?" "Absolutely," Joe replies. "We’ve maybe got $1,000 in the budget for improvements, total."

Bob summarizes, "OK, so any attempts to improve productivity needs to work with the existing equipment and cannot exceed $1,000." Bob then asks, "Is there anything else that is non-negotiable?"

"No, provided our project plan is ready in 14 days, and it’s based on using the existing equipment," states Joe.

"So, if the guys suggested switching suppliers, or developing new shift rotations, we could change?" "Of course we can, Bob." "OK, so those are the negotiables?" "Right."

"Sounds good, boss. Looks like the last thing we need to clarify is how any plan of action will be decided upon. Once we have some ideas on the table, can my guys make the decision, or do you want to reserve the right to make the final decision?"

"Oh, I can’t give up control on this one, Bob. My career could be riding on this one. I have no idea what they are going to come up with. No, I need to be able to make the final decision, Bob."

"That’s fair, you’ve never worked this closely with my group before. It sounds like a consultative approach would be best here. But I want to make sure I let them know that their role is to simply recommend."

"So, Bob, what do you want me to do when we meet tomorrow?" asks Joe, not feeling too sure what his role should be.

"Good question. Listen, ask questions to clarify, and resist the temptation to jump in. We’ll probably both learn a lot more that way," smiles Bob. "OK, I’ll see you at 7:30 tomorrow morning."

Tuesday, 7:25 a.m. Joe joins the 8 person Process Unit Number Two crew, grabs a coffee and takes a seat. The first thing Joe notices is that Bob’s entire crew is present, and Bob starts the meeting on time at 7:30. Already I can tell this will be different, he thinks.

Bob starts the meeting by clarifying why the agenda for today’s Production Meeting has changed. "This is a pretty important issue, and Joe is sitting in with us today as we try to work this one out. Welcome Joe," says Bob, and is joined by nods around the table. "It’s great to be here, and I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas," declares Joe, then looks to Bob to get things started.

Bob begins the meeting by reviewing the meeting purpose and objectives he e-mailed out the day before. "Any questions?" he asks before moving on. "Yeah," responds one of the crew.

Joe ends up providing greater detail, and people continue to ask questions. These guys are really challenging me, thinks Joe, and it’s great because it’s helping me understand the situation better myself.

Bob then recommends a group process, "I was thinking that, given these objectives, using our ABC problem solving technique would be most appropriate here. What do you think?"

When the group has all the relevant background, they move onto applying the problem-solving process.

8:45 a.m. As the group finishes a lively piece of discussion on one of the causes of the problem, Joe, who has been quiet until now, interjects, "Bob, I’m noticing the time. Maybe we’re spending too much time on the causes. I’m anxious to get some solutions on the table."

Bob, nodding in Joe’s direction, says, "I’d like to suggest we meet again to continue our discussion, ideally Thursday morning, so we all have a chance to consider potential solutions. Guys, what do you think?" "Yeah," responds one, "I’d like to get a chance to talk to the night shift about this, they might have some good ideas."

"And I’d like to check out these causes with the Process Unit Three guys, just to make sure we haven’t missed anything," responds another.

"OK, so can everyone make Thursday at the same time?"

8:58 a.m. Receiving nods around the table, Bob moves on to summarize the results of the meeting, and the agreed-upon next steps. Bob concludes by asking everyone to think about potential solutions to address the causes of the problem.

As the crew leaves the room, Joe considers the high note on which the meeting ended. Bob’s people left with a clear sense of purpose for the next meeting, and a clear sense of their opportunity for involvement in the process.

"Well, what do you think, Joe?" Bob inquires of his boss, after the last participant has left.

"Actually, I’m pretty optimistic, Bob. I’m excited about the quality of the discussion your guys are having, and I’m looking forward to Thursday’s meeting. The way you ran the meeting seemed to work really well. Tell me, Bob, do you think this approach would work for our Operations Meeting?"

"Absolutely," responds Bob.

"Well, I figure I need to take another shot at getting input from the managers, and I’m thinking of calling a three hour planning session Friday morning. Any chance you’d be willing to run the meeting, and teach me more about how to do this?"

"You bet, Joe! I’d be delighted," responds Bob.

"Great! Can we grab a coffee today at 3:30? I’d like to send out the agenda, and I’m hoping maybe you could help me to put it together."

Letting go of control

Joe’s story, although fictional, provides a few ideas to consider for making the "soft stuff" count. We offer one final characteristic of a facilitative leader: a willingness to let go of control.

"The scariest part is letting go," says Steve Miller of Royal Dutch Shell. "You don’t have the kind of control that traditional leaders are used to. What you don’t realize until you do it is that you may, in fact, have more control – but in a different form. You get more feedback than before. You learn more than before. You know more through your own people about what’s going on in the marketplace and with customers than before. But you still have to let go of the old style of control."

Making the soft stuff count isn’t easy. In many cases, it is about redefining leadership. What’s most important is that soft stuff is about changing the relationship between leaders, employees and team members in all interactions. Often the "soft stuff" can be the hardest stuff of all.