Maybe it's Not Them - Redux

Some themes seem timeless even if the circumstances that gave rise to certain scenarios varies over time and place.  I first wrote much of this post in November 2013.  Different time, different place and different person than who I am today.  That being said, what goes around comes around and the subject matter appears equally relevant to me as it did many years ago.

A lament that I've often heard from many leaders is "Why don't my staff get what we are trying to do?"  The context for this can relate to many things - a focus on developing new products or service offerings, a desire to enhance customer service capability, a shift in emphasis in strategic direction, or any number of other "big-ticket" ventures that a leader undertakes.  Regardless, the long and short of the story is that things are not going right and certainly not as well as the leader expected.  In fact, rather than succeeding the initiative is actually failing.

The leader's frustration - and mystification - at the lack of success arises because in his/her mind the initiative should be moving forward rapidly, smoothly and with a minimum of bumps along the way.  From the leader's perspective the reasons for moving forward assertively and confidently are so self-evident that there should be no reason for confusion or lack of action.  From the leader's perspective all steps that should have reasonably been taken to communicate the importance of the initiative have been taken.  From the leader's perspective implementation of his/her brilliantly conceived idea should be proceeding easily and smoothly because...well...it's just so bloody brilliant!

Yet, success is not forthcoming.  And maybe that means it's time for a change in perspective.  Maybe its not about them.  Maybe it's about you.

It's often far easier to blame others for a lack of success or progress in moving an organization forward than in taking a hard look at what we are doing or not doing as the leader.  It's personally challenging to start asking some hard questions about what role I as a leader played in not setting the organization up for success.  What steps did I not take?  What warning signs did I ignore? 

So maybe your leadership is getting in the way.  First off, like anyone else, leaders can develop tunnel vision.  We may have become so engaged with our day-to-day work that we start to lose perspective.  Despite the fact that we are specifically tasked with maintaining that 50,000 foot view - or maybe as a result of it - we can lose a sense of what else might be happening in and around the rest of the organization.  In essence, we have become trapped by our own mental box and simply can't conceive of factors or issues that might impact successful implementation of our ideas.  The facts may even be staring you right in the face but you simply are no longer able to see them.  Here's where developing a true climate of trust and confidence in your team can pay huge dividends.  The more objective eyes on the ball the better.

Related to the tunnel vision noted above is a phenomenon that I'll describe as the speed trap.  As leaders we can easily get caught up in the desire to move forward as fast as possible.  Time is money, we have to get out ahead of an issue, we have to be first to market, we have to move, move and move faster.  This driving sense of urgency, however, can cause us to plan in a superficial fashion and gloss over challenges.  More importantly, as we try to solve a problem the anxiety we feel to get on with things can actually prevent us from understanding the issue before us. As a result, we may not be tackling the real problem but only dealing with its most noteworthy symptoms.  The adage of pay now or pay later bears listening to.  Only in this regard the currency in question is time.  Slow down to move faster and more effectively.

Leaders can also be confounded by an overconfidence in their ability to communicate.  Effective communication is never simply about getting the memo(s), emails, or newsletters out or having a grand launch event.  For any significant initiative, the leader and his most trusted lieutenants have already spent a considerable amount of time coming to grips with the whys and wherefores of the initiative.  They understand the importance of the effort not only at an intellectual level but more importantly at a visceral level.  Leaders are therefore surprised and amazed that the rest of the organization doesn't have the same level of understanding and commitment.  The reality is that nobody else has been able to spend as much time on this idea as the leader already has.  They truly don't yet "get it" because they have not yet been given the time to understand the rationale for the effort.  A leader and his support team must not only communicate but allow time for the idea to be digested.  In addition, effective communication will ensure and incorporate a feedback loop that allows a check on understanding of key messages and expectations.

Paradoxically, I have also observed that leaders can similarly be confounded by their own lack of confidence or sense of self.  There may be in fact a lot of exceedingly strong-minded contrarians among your leadership team or other significant stakeholders.  I have observed too many conscientious and "nice" leaders fail to follow through on their core values when faced with well-stated or vociferous opinions.  They hesitate, change their mind, or never achieve the full potential of what they envisioned for the team or their larger organization.  Ultimately, they find themselves challenged by not owning their own values and hopes for the organization strongly enough.  Or they hold out false hope that eventually consensus will win out.  Unfortunately, many leaders - effective or ineffective - discover that you have to break some eggs to make an omelette.  Not everyone may be as altruistic, futuristic and self-sacrificing as you.;

Success in implementing past initiatives may also cloud judgment on a go-forward basis.  A lack of planning, preparation, and good communication may not have confounded success in the past.  A leader may have succeeded in spite of himself for a whole variety of reasons.  A fact-based analysis may not have been undertaken to help identify key learnings.  Perhaps we were saved by even worse planning and preparation of a competitor.  Perhaps we were saved by the extraordinary efforts of our staff.  The truth is we don't really know what factors supported success or what that success actually cost us.  The result is that a leader is unduly confident in his own ability or otherwise complacent relative to what the next effort is really going to take. 

Finally, the ability to move an initiative forward may be most fatally confounded by the organization's assessment of the leader and his/her motivations.  Ultimately, I believe that words and actions of a leader must line up over the long run.  Staff and stakeholders will commit more strongly to something if they believe it serves the achievement of the organization's stated mission, vision and values.  They will commit if they can see benefit for them as individuals and for the organization as a whole.  If, however, past experience has informed them that the leader is first and foremost concerned about his/her personal gain an integrity gap will develop and grow.  In these circumstances, the leader may gain compliance but he will not gain true commitment to future endeavours.  Staff and stakeholders will ultimately see through the motivations of a self-absorbed leader.  It may take some time, but eventually organizational performance will suffer.

There could be probably be a few more warnings posted here about not rushing to judgment on one's staff.  The cautionary tale is one of making sure to look at yourself in the mirror first before casting aspersions on the skills, abilities and motivations of your followers.  Have you done enough to set the stage for success?  Have you provided the right tools to support effective implementation?  Have you looked at the issue from all perspectives? 

In the end, it may be that it's not them that failed you.  Maybe you failed them.
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
Executive Coach/Leadership Consultant
President & Co-Founder - BreakPoint Solutions
gregh@breakpoint.solutions

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.