The Whole World Turned Away

"The day your team members stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."
- Colin Powell

Being part of a team can be wonderful. The connection between team members, the trust and support of each other, and the knowledge that everyone is working toward the same goal can be an amazing experience.

Changes
What happens when everyone isn't as focused on the team as in the past? What if the appearance of support wasn't as sincere as the team believed? The impact of these changes can not only create divisions within the team, but has the potential to rip the team apart.

How could this happen?

Changes in life are not uncommon, in fact change is the most exciting part of life! Living a routine, same-old-schedule day in and day out would just about kill me. Learning, growing, and maximizing what you can become is the definition of living a full and meaningful life.

So how does all of the goodness that is wrapped up in change, end up pulling the team apart?

Team Agenda vs. Personal Agenda
As leaders...and as team members...we have to ensure that goals and priorities are clear. Every member has to know what is important, why it is important, and what needs to happen to achieve those goals. In the absence of knowledge, people will start filling in their own interpretation of reality. That is a slippery slope.

One of the worst things that can happen to a team is that one member or a small group of members decide that their wishes supersede those of all others. When this happens the team suffers. It is our job as leaders to make sure we keep the team informed, fired up about the future, and fully aware of what needs to happen, even if what needs to happen isn't the most popular option.

No one ever said leadership is easy.

How About You
When your team raises issues and concerns with you the next time, instead of feeling like you have another headache to deal with, be thankful. They are reaching out to you. They feel it is important that you know what is going on so you can do something about it. They believe in you...and that's a pretty special feeling.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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Supply Lines and Change Management

The world is moving faster than ever. Sometimes I struggle to keep up with it all. Whether I'm chasing the unattainable goal of an empty Inbox, managing multiple organization-wide changes, or trying to maintain a reasonable meetings load each day, I continue to wonder how I'm ever going to keep it all under control. 

Fast Is Good
Don't misinterpret my opening comments. I like changing things up to improve, and I certainly love courageous leaders who aren't afraid to push organizations forward. So many companies are mired in analysis-paralysis that I wonder if any decisions are made. I've worked in some of those places, and it can be downright frustrating to feel trapped in that corporate culture.

"Breakthroughs happen when leaders are brave enough to push their organizations forward."

Too Fast Is Dangerous
The world of work is filled with military references: the war for talent, negotiations being framed as a battle, and so on. One important lesson from the military that I believe is noticeably absent from the discourse at work has to do with supply lines.

In times of rapid changes (read here --> advancement in war) the front lines are never extended beyond the reach of the supply lines. If that connection is lost, important resources, supplies and expertise are compromised and the effort is put at extreme risk for failure.

The same concept holds true in the workplace. If changes are happening so quickly that leaders and staff are not able to maintain an appropriate supply of information, tools, and resources, the change effort is also at risk to fail.

How About You
What approaches do you use to ensure the change efforts in your organization don't outstretch your corporate supply lines? Are you able to keep your leadership team properly refueled and supported; or, have you simply focused on the speed of change and inadvertently put the effort at unnecessary risk?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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