When a leader comes to us and asks us to “change those people” – I know it is time to run. While it is comforting to think that if your employees were …fill in the blank… more productive, more service focused, more accountable, more innovative, that all would be good with the world. However, fixing others is never the fix – in business, relationships or society. Ask any spouse who has tried this and failed repeatedly.
The right leadership question is: My organization needs to be more …fill in the blank… creative, productive, focused, lean. How do I need to change to make that happen? How do I need to show up differently? What am I doing that promotes or supports the current state?
When leaders are willing to do the inside work that leads to the outside results they want – amazing things happen. The shift in focus creates a domino effect. The leader becomes a powerful role model. The organization is willing to follow. Resistance fades, as people are being led and not coerced.
The inside shift can be the hardest – it means giving up old ways of thinking and doing and being. Yet once made, the outside work falls in place much easier.
