See Yourself Differently
2 Mar 2011Imagine this scenario happening at your organisation. You look out your office window to see an angry mob carrying a wooden box around. You go downstairs to see what is happening and come to find that the angry mob are actually your workforce on strike. Not only that, but the box they are carrying is a coffin… and it has your name engraved on the side of it! Now I don’t know about you, but if I saw that, I would be on my toes before you could say “I wonder if they plan on putting anything in that!”
This is what Sheila, a young, white, South African woman experienced when she became the Managing Director of an organisation. Yes, you read correctly - a white woman, in her early 30’s, leading an organisation in South Africa. Sheila came up against fierce resistance when she took over due to the changes she implemented that were necessary for the long-term success of the company.
Right now, many organisations are implementing changes that are coming up against similar resistance. As leaders in any organisation we need to look at different ways of getting people to look upwardly and outwardly in order to embrace the change, instead of the current situation where people are looking inwardly and downwardly. This is not an easy task with so much uncertainty in the near future, especially in the public sector.
Research suggests that when any significant change happens in any organisation around 33% of people accept the change and carry on as normal. Another 33% decide that they want to leave and they find employment elsewhere (these are normally your best people). The remaining 33% of people don’t like the change, but can’t be bothered to seek out employment elsewhere (these are your poor performers). These people can sometimes be found actively working against your organisation. That’s right! You will be paying them to work against you! This is a problem that is not just hurting the government, but also the majority of businesses who are experiencing difficult trading conditions due to the economic downturn. But how do we go about fixing it?
I remember having a meeting with Sheila from South Africa and I was intrigued to know how she would lead change that she did not agree with, she explained, “When any organisation makes changes many people disagree with the new ways of working. Sometimes even you as a leader will not understand why something is being implemented. When this happens, if you only agree with 20% of what is being done, make that your focus and put all your energy into that 20%.” Sheila eventually won the heart and mind of one person; he was not the leader of a department or even someone you would consider significant in terms of title. He was the cleaner. Sheila knew he had great power and influence with his fellow co-workers due to his tribal leadership status external from his day-to-day job. He in turn spread the word and the vision that united the people in a different way of thinking. Sheila got one person to see himself differently, the right person. Who do you need to win over to change the thinking in your organisation?
My organisation recently delivered a development programme for the NHS that we entitled “See Yourself Differently”. The objectives of the day were to get people looking upwardly and outwardly and focussed on the positive elements of the change they are experiencing. This programme offered delegates time out to look at the bigger picture and to think of how they could lead this change more effectively. More and more organisations are looking at development programmes such as this in order to drive the performance of their people. Asking for more is simply not good enough; we need to take people out of their environments to see the bigger picture.
Einstein said: "We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Find out how we can change the direction of your people’s thinking today by calling 0114 321 1392 or email enquiry@developingimpact.com.
Go back to the articles.