Digging for the keys to change
Thursday, July 08, 2004
This week, I was working with a senior executive board that I do some regular work with. The group – and the company – is facing some real hard challenges that are pushing them to take an honest look at the way they have been functioning and leading their organization. There are some big organization-wide issues on the table. My belief is that these need to be confronted. The leaders of the company need to step forward and look for the ways they have played key roles in the creation of the current state the company.
It’s so easy – especially when you are standing fairly detached from something – to say, “Don’t you see how your behavior is leading to this result? Now, go fix it!”
I also isn’t that hard to get someone to see this – to see his or her role, the actual words or behaviors that support or act out that role. Also, I’ve been able to get executives to answer my question, “So, what else might you have done in this situation?” to begin to see something by looking at the path not taken.
However, when the reality hits, it isn’t easy at all. People don’t see what they have created. They don’t see what their roles have been in the creation (or perpetuation). And they aren’t all that interested in doing something different. (“That would be like me saying that I was wrong!)
There are some key questions that I have to focus on. When people are facing a change, I try to find out
- What are you committed to protecting?
- What are you committed to holding on to?
- What are you unwilling to give up in order to allow you to move to a new place or a new perspective?
When you can open the doors or remove the “cover” off of the hidden commitments, new possibilities emerge. And these aren’t rational things either.
For a manager who has her staff shaking in fear all of the time, that manager may be protecting the fact that she feels way over her head. She may feel that if she doesn’t come off so strong and so authoritative, then she would be overrun by her staff, who, she thinks, really know more than she does anyway.
For the manager who feels he is under scrutiny of senior leadership, every move he or his team makes has to be perfect or he’ll get nailed. Therefore, micro-managing is the only guarantee of success.
Each of these hypothetical managers has a commitment that is not what it appears. I tell people all of the time that their boss didn’t come to work each day to make their lives miserable (One person actually thought her manager did!). They are people who are trying to do the best they can in the face of fears and challenge and pressures. This is true for front line staffers, EVPs, and CEOs alike.
What is needed is a little bit of pushing. Figure out what the underlying commitments are, and then see what you can do to honor those and gently move to a new commitment.
Peace
It’s so easy – especially when you are standing fairly detached from something – to say, “Don’t you see how your behavior is leading to this result? Now, go fix it!”
I also isn’t that hard to get someone to see this – to see his or her role, the actual words or behaviors that support or act out that role. Also, I’ve been able to get executives to answer my question, “So, what else might you have done in this situation?” to begin to see something by looking at the path not taken.
However, when the reality hits, it isn’t easy at all. People don’t see what they have created. They don’t see what their roles have been in the creation (or perpetuation). And they aren’t all that interested in doing something different. (“That would be like me saying that I was wrong!)
There are some key questions that I have to focus on. When people are facing a change, I try to find out
- What are you committed to protecting?
- What are you committed to holding on to?
- What are you unwilling to give up in order to allow you to move to a new place or a new perspective?
When you can open the doors or remove the “cover” off of the hidden commitments, new possibilities emerge. And these aren’t rational things either.
For a manager who has her staff shaking in fear all of the time, that manager may be protecting the fact that she feels way over her head. She may feel that if she doesn’t come off so strong and so authoritative, then she would be overrun by her staff, who, she thinks, really know more than she does anyway.
For the manager who feels he is under scrutiny of senior leadership, every move he or his team makes has to be perfect or he’ll get nailed. Therefore, micro-managing is the only guarantee of success.
Each of these hypothetical managers has a commitment that is not what it appears. I tell people all of the time that their boss didn’t come to work each day to make their lives miserable (One person actually thought her manager did!). They are people who are trying to do the best they can in the face of fears and challenge and pressures. This is true for front line staffers, EVPs, and CEOs alike.
What is needed is a little bit of pushing. Figure out what the underlying commitments are, and then see what you can do to honor those and gently move to a new commitment.
Peace
