Tribal approach to leadership can increase productivity

CAPABLE HANDS: Jeffrey Deckman, president and founder of Capability Accelerators, says that his time on the R.I. Economic Policy Council taught him to respect the power of government to be able to get things done and the importance of government “following the lead of business.” / COURTESY CAPABILITY ACCELARATORS
CAPABLE HANDS: Jeffrey Deckman, president and founder of Capability Accelerators, says that his time on the R.I. Economic Policy Council taught him to respect the power of government to be able to get things done and the importance of government “following the lead of business.” / COURTESY CAPABILITY ACCELARATORS

Jeffrey Deckman began learning real-world lessons required to hold down a job and advance as a teenager.
“There was no coddling, you either kept up or got out,” he said of his experience beginning at 17 as a lineman in the cable-television industry. He parlayed that experience into a 30-year career in telecommunications. He founded Capability Accelerators in 2004 to work with companies on ways to increase productivity by raising employee-engagement levels.
“In a typical company with a $2 million payroll, an improvement of employee-engagement levels by 5 percent will drive $50,000 to their bottom line through increased productivity,” he said.

PBN: You call yourself a “capability expert” who can help companies bring out the best in employee networks by tapping into hidden potential. What makes your service unique?
DECKMAN: I look at the human capital in an organization in a unique way. I view the people in an organization as a knowledge network and what I look to do is focus specifically on finding untapped pools of capability within the workforce that the organizational chart or the existing policies and procedures suppress. … The industrial age is behind us and it’s rendered traditional command and control, top-down leadership styles ineffective. We’re now in a knowledge economy and we have to engage people’s minds now. This is not about singing Kumbaya or hugging people in the workplace. When you look at the financial impact of increasing employee engagement even by 5 percent in a company it’s stunning.

PBN: College was never a draw or destination for you; you wanted to work in the “real world.” How has that path contributed to your success? DECKMAN: It taught me that life and business is serious business. I was 17 when I was a linesman for the cable TV industry. There was no coddling, you either kept up or got out. It really shortened my learning curve into adulthood. And at the end of four years that most people would have spent in college, by the age of 21, I was already a seasoned engineer in management positions. So I was fortunate. I was in telecommunications for 30 years.

PBN: Name a few of your “serial entrepreneur” experiences and describe the one that held the most meaning and proved the most profitable for you.
DECKMAN: I was a cable-television contractor [and] had two companies in that space. Then I was a telecommunications integrator where we built large data and voice networks. Then I joined New Commons think tank from 2006 to 2008, was a co-founding partner, and then I went off to do what I’m doing now. The most meaningful is the one I’m doing now. But the think tank was very powerful. That helped me not only learn at a much deeper level but become a realistic futurist that knows how to “operationalize.” That was a process that involved gathering thought leaders and innovators who had visions and ideas, assembling large knowledge networks of people who had interest, expertise and connections, and pulling them together where the group would define next and best courses of action.

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PBN: Between 2000 and 2007 you served on the R.I. Economic Policy Council. What did that stint teach you about business, economics and state government?
DECKMAN: It taught me to respect the power of government to be able to get things done, but it also showed me the importance of government following the lead of business. Government doesn’t understand business and how to help and fix business as well as businesses do, and government also moves slowly.

PBN: What is the one thing your clients find most difficult to change when you are counseling them, and how do you help them see the light?
DECKMAN: The biggest challenge they have is letting go of the command and control leadership style they’ve been taught. It’s naturally scary. I help them sample and experience the benefits of the new way of engaging people, by helping them to invite more of the employees into the decision-making discussions. When my clients start to see how much help and energy the workforce is willing to give them around problem-solving, they say this is kind of cool.

PBN: Give an example of the positive impact of your work where engagement was improved.
DECKMAN: I was brought in by a large nonprofit. They wanted to go from a heavily bureaucratic, top-down management style to something more innovative. I designed a leadership program that they gave to their managers, high-level directors and supervisors. We went to them and said, “What do you think?” What people said – people who were frustrated nobody listens – was (that) their level of communication increased, the level of trust increased, the amount of productivity increased and their culture improved. My message breaks down the unnecessary separation between management and the workforce and they feel like a tribe and respect each other more up and down the chain. … In a typical company with a $2 million payroll, an improvement of employee engagement levels by 5 percent will drive $50,000 to their bottom line through increased productivity. •

INTERVIEW
Jeffrey Deckman
POSITION: President and founder of Capability Accelerators
BACKGROUND: Deckman is a former engineer and founder and CEO of Synet Inc. from 1987-2008, and a founding partner in New Commons think tank. For the past nine years, he has been developing and implementing a new leadership paradigm that blends the disciplines of network, tribal and conscious leadership into a development program.
EDUCATION: Hopatcong High School, Hopatcong, N.J., 1974
FIRST JOB: Lineman in cable-television industry at age 17
RESIDENCE: West Warwick
AGE: 56

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