You are probably asking yourself: “What does diagnosis have to do with being an effective leader? That’s for doctors and scientists!” The answer is “everything” because the primary role of a leader is decision making. Make the wrong decision, and it can be costly to the organization as well as the person making the decision. Mistakes can be avoided by skillfully diagnosing a problem or situation before deciding what the solution is.

The following short story illustrates how easy it is to make the wrong decision. The point is – LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP  – or diagnose before you decide what action to take.

William, the CEO of a large company, received a phone call from Robin Jones. a reporter from a nationally syndicated newspaper.  William answered the phone and  ask Robin to identify herself  and why she was calling.  She explained that she had received several calls from female managers in his organization complaining that they were not compensated at the same level as men in similar positions and they called Robin because “no one in the organization seems to want to do anything about it.” William was taken back and explained that gender pay scales were adjusted a year ago and that situation was corrected at that time.  He went on to say that, none the less, he would look into the matter and thanked her for the information.

Immediately after hanging up, William contacted his VP of HR, Mildred White, and asked her to look into the matter and get back to him as soon as possible.  Mildred took the request seriously and examined their compensation system. She found that all female and male managers in the same grade level were correctly rated and paid according to length of service and job performance.  She reported this finding to William and his response was, “I thought so.”

Several days passed, and William was preparing for a board meeting when the phone rang.  He answered, and to his surprise it was Robin calling again.  Robin explained that she had just talked to 4 of his female managers and they were getting ready to “go public” if something isn’t done soon.  William paused and replied that he had just checked the situation and found there were no problems.  Robin said that she thought it was serious enough that he should look into it again. William simply replied, “thanks,” and he hung up.

William realized that there was more to this than meets the eye, so he called a consulting friend that he had used before and ask her to come in and look into the matter. After studying the problem, she reported to William that his compensation system was working well and pointed out that there were differences between  genders; however, that was due to length of time in pay grades and performance.

William was very puzzled and thought to himself: “If the pay system is working as intended, why are some women complaining, especially to someone outside the organization? Why hasn’t my HR Vice President every said anything about this? that’s what she is here for.

The situation William is facing can go on and on and eventually result in public disclosure causing the company costly employee relations problems possible lawsuits, and a disruption of the entire organization.

It is clear that William does not understand what is going on in his organization.

Please join us as we walk you through the five steps in the diagnostic process which will explain how William can solve his problem. The steps are:

• RECOGNIZING THE SYMPTOMS
• ORGANIZING THE SYMPTOMS
• IDENTIFYING CAUSE AND EFFECT
• DESCRIBE AND VALIDATE THE PROBLEM
• DESIGN AND TEST THE SOLUTION

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