Voices from Below
People at the Top Need to Listen
by
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The second question is “Does your organization have a vision?”
The most frequent answer to this question is that they do not know; or say what they think is their organization’s vision. Very few state that management distributed a vision statement, but is somewhere in a drawer or shelf and is never discussed.
The third question is “What is the mission statement of your organization?”
They remain silent or say something like I don’t remember; I don’t know if we have one, etc. My next question: What is the mission statement of your division? The answers are the same. Then I ask: What is the purpose of your job? Their response is just a description of what they do, but only a few times I heard something that qualifies as a purpose. My final question: What is the purpose of your life? Most participants do have a purpose for their life, from I want to be the best grandmother to I want to be a missionary in a third world country. I have heard it all.
Every organization must have a clearly stated mission (purpose), each department, division, bureau and team must have a purpose that supports the mission of the organization; and every individual must have a purpose at work that also supports the mission of the organization. Most importantly, every individual must have a purpose for his or her life. All these purposes must be in harmony.
“What would you do if there is a conflict that cannot be resolved between the mission of your organization and your purpose in life?” I asked.
“Our purpose in life must prevail.”
An organization’s mission statement is simply its business card which lets everyone know what you do or should be doing and for whom. Many mission statements have been written by management just to collect dust in a basket or drawer, or hung on a wall, ignored by most people. They are written to say that the organization has a mission statement, but even people in the highest levels of the organization cannot recite it unless they read it from a piece of paper which sometimes is hard to find. How embarrassing!
The best mission statements must be written with everyone’s contribution, not only management’s, so that it could be embraced by all stakeholders. It must be brief so that it can be easily remembered without looking at a piece of paper or card, easily understood, appealing, compelling and it must include a projection of the future to link it to the vision. Once written, it must be printed and distributed to everyone including customers and providers. It must be repeated again and again in vertical and horizontal meetings and members of management must relate each important decision to the mission statement. In other words, the mission statement must become the guiding light of the organization which must always be present, acknowledged and followed. Ignoring it is like a ship ignoring the lighthouse in the distance; or having a map and a compass but not knowing where to go; or, even worse, having a map and a compass and not knowing where to go.
The difference between vision and mission is not clear. I use one historic event to help participants think about these concepts a bit deeper. It goes like this:
Early in 1960, a president of United said that we would put a man on the moon before the decade had ended.
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About the Book
The purpose of this book is to put in writing the things I heard from the employees at the lower levels of different organizations; their ideas, suggestions, concerns, feelings, and—why not?—their genuine complains and frustrations. I hope this book helps to open the minds, hearts and souls of those who supervise people at any level of the organization, and not only the doors of theirs offices, to listen to what the employees want or need to say. They may be right or wrong as anybody else. If they are right, tell them what you plan to do, act accordingly and provide them with frequent feedback; if they are wrong, explain to them why they are wrong in a clear and specific manner. Organizations must make sure that supervisors are instructed to be available to their direct reports and listen to them. Fear, the main reason for employees not to speak to their supervisors, must be removed from the work environment because it closes the doors to many good ideas including significant cost saving suggestions, erodes people’s commitment, causes decrease in productivity and increase in employee turnover among other diseases. Sometimes the lack of communication is not necessary caused by fear but by supervisors who apparently are listening to employees without taking any action or providing adequate feedback. People understand yes followed by action and feedback, and they understand no when the reasons are clearly explained to them; but there is something that people can’t understand and usually creates anger, resentment and frustration: to be ignored.
About the Author
Ysaac Jesús Chabo was born on July 29, 1939 in the town of San Antonio de Río Blanco, Province of Havana, Cuba.
He enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Havana in 1959 but discontinued studies in 1962 because his strong and open opposition to the then proclaimed communist regime.
Married to Angélica Amor on November 24, 1963. Their first child, Jesús Angel, was born one year later.
Dismissed from work in the spring of 1967 for requesting passport to leave Cuba, and was given two work alternatives: cutting sugar cane, or becoming a laborer in farm construction. Did farm construction for one year.
Arrived in Newport News, Virginia on September 23, 1968 after staying five months in Spain. Did not speak or understand English. Started working, three days after arrival, as a general helper in a cabinet shop.
Their second child, Judith Elisa was born on December 22, 1968.
Obtained a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration in 1975, and was hired but Bendix Corporation in 1976. Obtained a Master of Business Administration Degree in 1978.
Taught Accounting as Adjunct Faculty at Thomas Nelson Community College and Christopher Newport University.
Began working for Liebherr America, Inc. as Cost Accountant in 1978, and passed the CPA exam in 1985. Was hired by Canon Virginia, Inc. as Accounting Manager in October, 1987.
Started working for the City of Norfolk as Assistant City Controller in October, 1993. In 1995 joined the Organizational Development Department as internal consultant and trainer.
Retired from the City of Norfolk on October 1, 2006 and continued providing services to public and private organization through his business—CHABO, LLC.
His Motto: Building bridges, tearing down walls, opening gates.
Faith statement: With God you can cross raging rivers walking on bridges of rotten wood.