Challenging the Normal

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A new business is laser focused on earning and keeping customers. The promise-makers and promise-keepers in the business are well aligned in their appreciation of customers because survival depends on getting the next order. As the business grows, it seeks to capitalize on what has enabled its success, so procedures are standardized and structure is added to manage those procedures, with the objectives of sustaining efficiency and managing risk. With good intention, lots of internal, …

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Securing Team Commitment

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Commitment to a goal or strategy is more than just acknowledging one’s agreement – it’s a complete buy-in. To be truly committed to a plan, team members must have clarity about what the plan is and why it’s the best way forward. For team members to acquire clarity, they need the opportunity to contribute their opinions and ideas during the decision-making process. By thoroughly exploring alternative approaches, the team can better see, and then decide, …

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Lessons From the Change Lab

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Change projects are time-consuming, demanding from those involved an investment of discretionary time that most don’t have to invest. Among the barriers to success are disruptions to be navigated, resource constraints to be overcome, and the egos of affected stakeholders to be managed. So, when your team and you are developing and implementing your change initiative action plan, these lessons can help overcome your barriers to accelerate your progress: – Choose a project leader: While …

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Motivating Change

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Pursuing change is as much a matter of the heart as it is of the head. Data is necessary for the rational analysis of, and planning for, a pending change; these are functions of the head. But data does little to address the heart – the emotional disruption, uncertainty, discomfort, or fear – that is integral to implementing change. When motivating your team to drive a change initiative, or to implement a strategy, revealing only …

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Becoming More Agile

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In last week’s post, we reviewed the characteristics of an agile business – customer centricity, decentralization, and a small team focus. If you’re the leader responsible for strengthening these attributes in your business, how might you proceed? Pursuing agility compels changes in mindset and behavior, as well as to policy and process. Leaders expect that resistance to these changes will be a natural first reaction; emotions will be triggered and barriers will rise. Concerns about …

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Building An Agile Business

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Urgency, complexity, and uncertainty define today’s market. Thriving in such a market compels us to build agile businesses that pursue perpetual innovation while preserving efficiency – innovations that adapt to meet customers’ real, changing needs and that steadily improve internal processes, including how these businesses may be led and managed. An agile business demonstrates three characteristics: Which of these agile business characteristics reflect your business operations?

Seeking Resilience

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It can be challenging to find new leaders who can consistently meet performance expectations in our dynamic and increasingly complex work environment. Typical job postings cite requirements and experience levels, but rarely do they describe the behaviors necessary to achieve assigned goals and thrive in your business culture. The most significant performance differentiator is not what leaders do, but rather how they do it – their attitude, and how well aligned it is with your …

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The 3 Audiences of Change

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Change tends to happen slowly because it impacts three audiences, two of which have the power, inertia, and communications to support or defeat the change initiative. Your ‘advocate’ audience perceives a change initiative as an opportunity to make a difference that also increases their visibility, while helping the company improve its means of creating value. They care about the change, believe that they’ll benefit from it, and so organize to support it. Your ‘resistance’ audience …

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How Strong Is Your Leadership Agility?

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Increasingly, leaders are describing their operating environment as dynamic, unpredictable, and complex, reflecting shifting market trends that are concurrently impacting their customers. It’s an environment that challenges their established means of creating value, for customers and themselves. They need to promptly and profitably adapt to these highly dynamic circumstances, but often feel unprepared to do so. And the future promises that this trend will continue to accelerate. The traditional response to helping leaders succeed has …

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Choices Reveal What Customers Value

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Building enduring customer relationships relies on discovering what a customer truly values. Proposing two or three alternative solutions to resolve a customer’s need communicates your appreciation for their business, and ultimately increases their satisfaction with their final decision. Here’s why proposing choices reveals what your customer values: How consistently do you propose choices to reveal what your customer values?