Monday, March 9, 2020

Avoid the Five Attitudes of Stagnation

With the goal of becoming more nimble, flexible and agile during the next two years and recognizing that this will not take place until quality, empowerment and principle-centered leadership are united, the tragic flaw to most efforts of this nature is the creation of too much change, operationally or strategically, within too short of a time period.  The outcome of this action will be the rise of the five attitudes of stagnation:

- “We’ve never done it this way.”

When wandering into uncharted territory such as being held accountable to productivity based key performance indicators (KPIs), people will be frightened and overwhelmed. They will want to run, duck and cover. This is a normal response.

As a leader, explain why this is taking place and help/teach people how to work with KPIs. Having a clear set of core values and/or guiding principles in place before we implement something like new KPIs makes sure there is continuity through the new changes.

- “We’re not ready yet for that much change.”

For most people, change is uncomfortable. Few people wake up on Monday morning and hope for a revolution or a transformation at work. Most just want to go to work, do their job, make some progress, be respected, and get paid an honest wage.

As a leader, we need to make sure we have given people the tools to be successful, not just the expectation that they should be successful. Change hardiness training such as conflict resolution, team management and coping techniques builds capacity. Understanding the national, regional and community trends that are driving organizational change gives people perspective and, over time, an understanding that status quo could be dangerous.

- “We’re doing just fine without all this change.”

No problem can be solved without a change in habits and perspective. However, few of us actively seek to change our habitual patterns. It’s just too much work to change and then maintain these changes. Instead, we just keep doing what we are doing because it is the easier path.

Most leaders under-communicate the why of change and instead focus on the what that needs to change. Furthermore, change that is not in alignment with the mission and core values of the organization causes people to question their leaders, themselves and their teams. Therefore, the best leaders make sure the changes that are being made are mission-driven and vision-led.

- “We tried it once. And it cost too much and didn’t work out.”

People are rarely successful the first time they implement a new process or system. There is such a thing as a learning curve. People also routinely place blame and routinely make excuses until they have achieved a degree of clarity and competence. 

People who are successful in leading change know that they need to create time, space and support as people become competent and confident. This happens at the one to one level through coaching and at the team level through thoughtful facilitation. 

- “It’s not in my job description” and “that’s not my responsibility.”

Fully participating partnerships are founded on respect, integrity and empathy. Effective teams are built on trust. True change is not an event, but an on-going process.

Therefore, the best leaders make sure that during organizational change we check to make sure that all involved are clear about their role, their responsibilities, the expectations being placed on them, their 90 day goals plus their KPIs. This in combination with effective coaching can help people not get caught in either of these two problematic attitudes.

This week, review the above five statements and make sure you are doing your side of the work in order to reduce the possibility of a high level of stagnation. 

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

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