leadingtoday.org
Leadership Tip of
the Month
June 2006
Copyright 2006 ã weLEAD, Inc.
How to Destroy a
New Strategy or Idea…
It
happens a hundred times every day. An executive or management team discovers or
formulates a new initiative. They devise, and then implement the idea thinking,
“wow…is this a great strategy.” When it
is finally introduced, they wonder why it is not welcomed or enthusiastically
accepted. They question why there is reluctance, resistance and negative
thinking about what is potentially a sound idea or new program. They feel a
need to resort to threats, intimidation or financial incentives to get everyone
to “buy-in” and promote the new concept. But what they fail to understand is
that the problem isn’t with the people, the problem is with their dysfunctional
management methods. By lacking basic leadership skills, they brought this
reaction upon themselves and only
have themselves to blame!
Recently at a weLEAD
Leadership seminar in Orlando, Florida, Dr.
–
1. Decide a change is needed
–
2. Make plans behind closed doors
–
3. Draw up charts
–
4. Call a meeting
–
5. Surprise! I have come up with a grand new organizational plan
–
6. See where each of you fit in my plan
–
7. Now get to work making it happen
–
8. Tell those who resist that they are not “team
players”
–
9. Take all the credit for any success
Does this look familiar to your organization? Let’s analyze these
steps and see where many well-intended executives go wrong. As we examine these
steps I will make note of the distorted “mind-set” that far too many managers
have because they are not servant-leaders.
1. Decide a change is needed. Serious
change needed to improve a department or organization and become more effective is a good thing. But
change for the sake of change is harmful. If you determine that change is
really needed, here are some essential questions to ponder or the entire change
process will be fatally flawed. What do the various stakeholders say are the
genuine needs or your organization? This is a critical early stage that will
determine if people later “buy-in” to the entire concept. For example, if you
want to improve a process or transaction with vendors, consult with those in
your organization who actually know
and deal with your vendors… not with
those who simply manage the personnel
who deal with your vendors. If you want to improve customer service, consult
with those in your organization who actually know and deal with your customers…
not with those who simply manage the personnel who know your customers. This is
the opportunity to find out the real challenges and needs from those who are closest to the vendors or customers.
From the inception of the change process include those who know how your
business works, and not those who only manage those who know.
2. Make plans behind closed doors. This is
where the people who are closest to the actual vendors, customers, etc. are
purposely left out of the process. Why are these people typically left out of
the process? Arrogance and ignorance are the answers. The ones making the plans
behind closed doors have deluded themselves into thinking they are smarter or
superior to those who are closest to the action. This only breeds contempt and
disgust among those who are left out of the process, but will be expected to
make it work… or else.
3. Draw up charts. Make
sure that if you are going to make changes in the roles and responsibilities of
people, that you ignore their input as well. Draw up charts placing people in
roles they are ill-fitted for or place them in positions that you think best fits their talents. Rather
than ask people what they would enjoy doing, or where their talents lie… make
sure you or someone else with a personal agenda
decides where they best fit within the organization. If you don’t do this
correctly the overwhelming majority of people will immediately be unhappy about
their new roles.
4. Call a meeting. Of
course while all of this has been going on, rumors and innuendo have been
rampant in your organization. Why? Because the people are so negative? No…
because everything has been done in secret. The message has already been
communicated to everyone that “father knows best” for his little children and
those with superior intelligence have created a master plan for everyone to follow. Now it is important with much
fanfare and artificial excitement to announce the new program that will take
everything to the next level!
5. Surprise! I have come up with a grand new organizational plan. Isn’t it
wonderful… but why are none of you excited? Now, remember that you were
unwilling to take the time to openly communicate the genuine need for change.
You also didn’t solicit the input of those who could have made this a far better or more effective plan. Make sure
you express your disappointment that others don’t get the vision or potential of this new plan. It is important to act shocked that not everyone is embracing
your idea. What is wrong with them?
6. See where each of you fit in my plan. Since
you did not communicate with most of those who are changing roles or
responsibilities, expect a small percentage to be content and the majority to
be upset. Be sure to act defensive
when this grand organizational plan is presented and it is met with lukewarm
comments or open rebellion. Make sure you understand that some of your most
talented people will be looking for ways to leave your organization as soon as
they can find another job. If new people need to be hired to fill expanded
roles, make sure you do this slowly
and stall these new hires as long as possible. Don’t worry about those now
burdened with duel roles that are waiting for these new people to be hired. If
they or their families are stressed because they are doing more than one job,
it is not really your problem. If they complain, you probably believe they are
not team players anyway.
7. Now get to work making it happen! Forget
about all the unanticipated problems and new procedures that will need to be
resolved because you didn’t bother to include those who actually do the
work in your organization. Make sure you compound this by having numerous
unproductive “meetings” to get these issues resolved. By now you probably
believe all these meetings are natural and
necessary to manage a business today.
8. Tell those who resist that they are not “team
players.” Isn’t it interesting that being a team wasn’t important when this new organizational plan was being
created, but now it is very important! Just to be sure you show everyone how
important being a team is, don’t hesitate to put people on probation or openly
criticize those who question things. You may even want to terminate a few
workers just to set an example and let everyone know how important this new
plan is (and who is the boss).
9. Take all the credit for any success. Since
you were one of the chosen elite who were responsible for this grand new
organizational plan, look closely for something (anything) that works… and
immediately take credit for it. This is important to justify and validate the
mess you created. Expect people to pretend things are not as bad as they really
are because of the “successful results” you have falsely discovered and
exaggerated. Don’t even think about how much better things would have been with
a culture of open communication and by including those you will need to make
any plan a genuine success.
Does this scenario or any of these steps look familiar to you?
Sadly, this is a typical process in an autocratic organization. The resulting
loss of talent, resources and effectiveness are enormous. The bad news is that
everyday this process is repeated over and over again and in some organizations
from generation to generation. The good news is that everyday a few souls are changing their attitude and embracing a
servant-leader approach. They are refusing to perpetuate a diseased process
that works poorly and encourages your most talented people to move on. What
kind of a leader are you?
For weLEAD, this is Greg
Thomas reminding you that it was Edward Simmons who said, "The
difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing
a thing exactly right.”
On
the weLEAD Website you will
find over 70 other free helpful leadership tips. They are all available in a
text version or as an MP3 audio!