For several years I managed the global DuPont IT infrastructure team – data centers, servers, networks, security, phone systems, databases, PCs, printers, help desks. As you can imagine, every day was a firefighting day. Somewhere, some system or some process wasn’t working correctly, for someone, for at least some time. We had a great team. We did a good job dealing with many issues and struggled badly with others.
Our performance rating system required a fixed distribution of “Exceeds Expectations,” “Meets Expectations,” and “Does Not Meet Expectations” ratings. No more than 2 of my 17 direct reports could receive an Exceeds rating, and at least 1 had to receive a Does Not Meet rating.
One of my steady-eddy managers approached me shortly after he told me he was planning to retire in a year. In the course of a very open conversation he mentioned this observation:
“You have a tendency to reward heroics to fix what’s broken over the well-planned, well-designed system work that doesn’t require heroics.”
There will be crises and emergencies and unplanned work when you’re leading an organization, or managing a working team. People who step up and go the extra mile to help should be recognized and appropriately rewarded. [Be sure to arrange for a review of what happened and what’s needed to ensure that won’t happen again, or at least reduce the consequences if it does occur.]
Good leadership means looking deeply at the quiet, steady work which prevents problems, including good design. Find ways to celebrate proactive work which prevents emergencies. Give it equal weight as firefighting when it is time to recognize people. Build a culture which honors risk assessment and appropriate mitigation.
Related tip: It’s easy to brag to your management about the firefighting event and recognize the people who took care of the problem. Be the kind of manager who highlights the preventative work to your management.
Remember, you will always get more of what you reward.
