Recognize imperfections
Cardoso is a firm believer that you will go a lot further as a leader if you recognize your blind spots, compared to someone who, well, turns a blind eye to those imperfections.
It’s what he had to do as a younger leader, and he wants those in his organization to take the same approach to improving themselves.
The organization uses 360 reviews to help managers realize their weaknesses, and it’s something Cardoso wants his organization to believe in.
“That’s what leadership is all about is that the people that need to do it and don’t want to do it, you have to, in a way, be forceful about it because it’s in their best interests ultimately,” he says.
Recognizing imperfections is part of the Kennametal culture that Cardoso needs managers to buy in to. Certainly, you have foundational beliefs that you want all employees to believe in and practice at your organization. You may not get 100 percent buy-in from everyone, so you have to give people time to adjust.
“You have to have examples,” he says. “You have to tell them what the blind spot is, and if one of those problems is listening, obviously you have a long road ahead of you because he’s not going to listen to you.”
In Cardoso’s case, if someone doesn’t want to admit to having blind spots and then work on them, he’s not going to fire that person at the first sign of resistance.
“Ultimately, culture in the organization drives results,” he says. “I tell people that you must not get the results in the company at the expense of your people. Don’t be successful because you are driving everybody else to leave the company.
“You call that a manager that leaves nothing but broken glass behind them. So you basically have to give the people an opportunity to understand what the issue is; you have to provide help for them to recover from that. Ultimately, if they don’t, I have dismissed pretty high-level executives because they left way too much broken glass.”
Cardoso gives someone between six and 18 months to adjust, giving more time to someone who shows the initiative to improve.
“You will give them more time compared to someone you know has no interest in changing from words or body language,” he says.
If the manager is fighting the idea of improving or recognizing blind spots, it could be a symptom of a much larger problem that they simply don’t buy in to the culture. So, if someone isn’t buying in, no matter how good of a producer they are, you have to let t
hem go if they are bringing others down.
“High performers that are good performers … get discouraged and sometimes even become lower performers when the organization rewards performers with bad behavior,” he says. “You can only lead if you walk the talk. Maybe in the beginning if people know you, they will buy it and give you the benefit of the doubt. Ultimately, the bottom line is people listen to what you do, not what you say.”
