The Boundary of Blame

Why his mistake might still be your problem

Dear Leader,

Your pitch rose as you began to describe the latest failure by your new boss. He asked you to set up a meeting with the CEO of one of your largest clients. There had been a few slips in service to them and they had begun to reduce their purchases, but otherwise, the agenda was unknown. You made the calls and set up the meeting for 9 am, 2 weeks out. Everyone confirmed.

When the day came, you saw the customer pull into the parking lot. You texted your boss to let him know the customer had arrived. Greeting her at the door, you led her to the conference room, offering coffee. But 10 minutes later, the customer noted the absence of your boss. You stumbled, fidgeted a bit and finally looked at your phone to find a message from him saying he would be a few minutes late.

At 20 minutes after 9, the customer stood and simply stated "I need to go." You walked her to the door, watching one of your best clients contemplate this event as she walked to her car. Just after she left, your boss pulled in. "You just missed her" you said. "Ahh shoot. Make sure to tell her I'm sorry and we'll try again." "I doubt there will be a next time" you stated flatly as you turned and walked away.

This is not an isolated incident, this is several times per week that this type of thing occurs. You thought THIS incident would wake him up, make him realize how disrespectful he had been. But there was no moment of remorse, no indication that there was a problem. He was unaware of this incident's potential effect on the relationship.

Poor customer experiences hinder upsells, long term contracts and require the need to provide discounts to compensate for them. Long term, this compounds via the company's reputation. Something must be done.

I once worked for a military contractor where I was responsible for data security among other things. However, I had one department where I continued to have security violations, specifically, employees would use email for sensitive information. I addressed the individual incidents and in those one on ones, it became clear that the department head was instructing his people to ignore the security requirements.

What I did was address the department head directly, prepared to escalate as necessary. The reason his behavior became part of my responsibility is because it was affecting elements in my scope of responsibility. And this is what we need to first clarify for you so that you can answer the question "How much effort is appropriate?"

So let's think about your scope. This is not your company and its direction, vision and purpose are out of scope. In fact, think for a moment about all of the things about this company that are NOT your responsibility. Actually most of it. Now, think about what IS your responsibility. Grab a piece of paper and jot down that list. Here are a few elements to kick you off. Sales, customer development, the reputation of the company insofar as it affects your ability to develop customers. Take 5 minutes and finish that list. Your zone of responsibility defines the boundary of "appropriate effort".

That boundary, clearly defined, can relieve you of the feeling of responsibility in the areas where you are not. But, conversely, will bolster your resolve to address those areas within that boundary with confidence and authority. This is the basis of your moral authority to address the harmful behaviors of the new boss directly. This is ownership.

Park Wiker

P.S. "It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do." – Moliere