Talk to any MBA student and they will tell you that there are two management styles; Theory X and Theory Y. Under the guidance of Theory X, it is assumed that people are lazy and irresponsible by nature and, furthermore, that if brains were gunpowder, the average employee would not be able to blow their nose. Theory Y managers seek open communications and invite employee participation and feedback while providing clear direction and enough empowerment for their people to grow and make mistakes if necessary.

The Zero Tolerance manager comes from Theory Y and says that you respect and have empathy for the employee, while expecting them to perform to the best of their ability. and never let them settle for less. It says that the manager (or the work team itself) sets the expectations and communicates them in such a way that people know that the expectations are not arbitrary or debatable, but neither are they punitive.

Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their landmark book, In Search of Excellence found that; “Great companies are marked by very strong cultures… so strong that you either accept their standards or walk out. There’s no such thing as a half way.” When you join the team, you understand that you have to live up to these expectations or you are not part of the team.

Retail superstar Nordstrom’s is a great example of zero tolerance. The people who work there face very high expectations (some don’t make it) and have many responsibilities. There are only two rules for employees; #1. Use your best judgement. #2. If you follow rule #1, no other rules are needed.

The US Marines are a zero tolerance team. The expectations are high, the discipline is unwavering and the pressure to perform is legendary. But don’t try to remove the “Semper Phi” decal from a Marine’s car. The Marines are a proud and motivated group because they have been part of a tough, uncompromising and value organization that expects and gets the best from its people. They have learned the truth about teamwork and individual responsibility and have passed the test of Zero tolerance for mediocrity.

You can lead your people to excellence and pride by training them to understand that zero tolerance is the only thing acceptable and if you’re going to be on this team… you’ll excel.

rules to remember

#1 You can never lead!

The embattled manager says, “I tell employees to honor our customers. ‘They write their paycheck.’ I tell them ‘Customer is #1,’ but we’re still losing market share and I know it’s due.” to bad habits of service.” Denial is more than just a river in Egypt.

Employees take care of their feet, not their lips. The question is what is the manager doing to show the staff what his priorities really are.

Good intentions do not replace positive results. I remember many years ago being guilty of complaining about the lack of sales productivity in my team of sales reps. George Morgan, our VP of Sales, looked me square in the eye and said, “Rick, you’ll be surprised how good they’ll get once their manager gets good.”

Teddy Roosevelt said, “There are no bad soldiers, only bad officers.” The manager hires, trains, and sets the work environment, and ultimately must take responsibility for results. Everything you and I do as managers affects the fragile attitude, motivation, and work ethic of our employees.

As a manager, you can never lead. You can’t nail jelly to a wall. You can’t find a sunrise by walking west and you can never lead. Someone once said, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.”

#2 Do with your employees what you would like them to do with your customers.

Who are the most important people walking through the doors of your business every day? Clients, right? Mistaken!

We learned long ago while doing sales training and consulting that the lowest paid staff member can handle more business than the highest paid salesperson. Please note that the way we treat our people will directly reflect on your attitude towards our customers. It is human nature.

Some managers seem to wait for people to do something wrong, just to correct them. When rules or work instructions are unclear, hesitant, or arbitrary, people feel frustrated and even resentful. And our customers can read it.

Give clear instructions and let people know that your expectations are not arbitrary, punitive, or debatable.

Once your staff understand the rules, involve them in decisions about those rules. Let them know that it is okay to challenge the rules and that they will have a very positive impact on the organization. As a salesman once told me, “Anyone can walk on water if he knows where all the stumps are.”

The German philosopher Goethe said: “Treat a man as he appears to be and you will make him worse. But treat a man as he already was, what he potentially could be, and you will make him what he could be.”

#3 NEVER SETTLE

Never settle? Never settle for what has always been acceptable or has worked in the past. Settling for past achievements leads to complacency. How long will your customers settle for your reputation or past achievements? The greatest enemy of excellence is ‘good’ and once you settle for ‘good’ you will never see excellence again.

A manager once told me that an uncompromising attitude like “never settle” is unreasonable. My question is: “Are your customers reasonable?” If not, maybe it’s time to get unreasonable.

Is the unreasonable possible? If you’ve never pushed your staff to find out what’s “unreasonable,” you don’t know what their potential really is. Have unreasonable expectations. Walk around assuming nothing is unreasonable and you’ll get a whole new definition of what’s possible.

One of the biggest dangers facing American industry is the underutilized employee. Typically, employees in the Japanese electronics industry submit 54 suggestions per employee. During the same period, each US employee submitted less than one suggestion.

Frontline people who, being intimately familiar with the details of their work environment, are not contributing their ideas to promote productivity. They keep telling us “Nobody listens, so why even try?” We cannot accept or settle for employee complacency rooted in longstanding management practices. When employees are involved and empowered in the organization, they will contribute and buy into the future of the organization.

A word of caution to managers: Once you ask employees to look beyond what most people assume is reasonable to what’s possible, you need to become an advocate for your ideas. You will need to be an active listener and a participant in the change. The motivation and confidence of the employees is fragile and circumstantial and that is the responsibility of the manager.

Finally, we must understand that the impact of Zero Tolerance for Mediocrity extends well beyond the doors of our businesses. It cuts to the very fabric of our country as the only standard of performance a free society can uphold is excellence.

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