Do Managers/Leaders Need to be Result Oriented?

“Lord, how much do you focus on results?  You mentioned being result-oriented earlier, but all this talk about adversity puts a lot of pressure on a manager. So many managers are forced to be results-oriented to make others happy, such as shareholders or bord members, but would you say the journey is just as, or maybe even more important?”

“Sam, I have several quotes for you:

‘One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is better than 50 half-finished tasks.’ That was from Bertie Charles Forbes.

Or how about:

‘There is no end to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.’ From the great Florence Luscomb.

And we can’t forget:

‘How you start is important, but it is how you finish that really counts. In the race for success, speed is less important than stamina. The sticker outlasts the sprinter.’ from Bertie Charles Forbes again.”

“I can keep going Sam, but I think you are getting the point that the journey is very important. Yes, results matter. But that is what is important in your world, not mine.”

I wondered how many quotes the Lord could generate. I guess an infinite amount.   He knew everyone, after all. However, I was wondering what he meant by in my world.

“Sam, people value things while I value effort. People like to keep score. They like to know who won a game, and if you offer to watch a game with them after they know the score, they will often say no. Who cares about the journey—it is the end result that matters? Right?  Well, not for me.”

I could get the sport analogy but did not know where the Lord was going.

“Sam, it is the journey that counts. In the Bible I talk about positive deeds. They are called Mitzvahs in Hebrew. People are supposed to do positive deeds for one another. I count the positive deeds people undertake. The key is the attempt. For example, if someone offers to help a disabled person, the disabled person has the choice of accepting or rejecting the assistance. I do not care. What I care about is that the person offered the assistance. That is the Mitzvah. Doing something good, regardless of the results, is the key. I keep track of the attempt. Imagine if someone tried to do something good for someone everyday throughout the year. That is 365 attempts. What if half the attempts backfire?  That still represents 365 attempts and that is what I count.”

I got what the Lord was saying, but how did that apply to managers?

“Well Sam, it applies to managers as they should be looking at more than just the bottom line. They should also examine what effort was undertaken. Just think about a saleswoman who makes 100 sales call a month and only closes 20% of sales they might not be doing that well. However, if the rest of the salespeople are only doing 50 calls a month, then the effort is not as much as the saleswoman. If the other salespeople close 10% of their sales for around the same   dollar value, who is or who are the better employees?  It would be hard for a manager to tell if they looked just at the total volume of sales. But one might have given much more effort. That effort and dedication needs to be recognized. Similarly, if an employee needs to generate $10,000 in sales a month, then they need to meet that goal and give it their best effort. A manager will know whether an employee was giving their best effort.  Manager will know if someone made 100 calls without really selling anything or if they made 100 calls and did the best they could with a poor quality prospect list.”

I was getting it. Effort was important and needs to be recognized by management. Results are important, but managers need to find the right balance. Push only the results and the effort will decrease. Encourage more effort and the results will eventually follow…or the employee will need to be fired if they cannot produce. It is not all or nothing. There needs to be a soft spot for both effort and results.

Just as I thought I had it; the Lord continued.

“Sam, it should be noted that action for the sake of acting is not necessarily what a manager is looking for. It is not about looking busy. An employee needs to follow their job description and give the best possible effort. It is a sin for an employee to cheat their employer by not giving their best effort. Thus, managers need to focus on results, but so do their supervisors and underlings. The best results are those tied to a job description and successfully completing all those elements. Imagine if Noah spent hundreds of years building an ark, and then it would not float. Would that be something where we should applaud the effort that did not work, or should we examine the fact that it worked, and Noah followed all the commands I gave him?  Noah put in the effort, was successful, and received his reward. Similarly, Moses had to produce results-leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Joseph had to produce results- saving Egypt from starvation. The list goes on and on.”

That seemed like a simple answer about focusing just on results. I did not think the other questions I had would be as simple.