Case Four

 

The leader who wanted change

 

Most change efforts fall far short of their potential. Even with principled leadership, implementing change is a messy, perplexing, and never-ending process. I have found five warning signs that can undermine change.

 

Underestimating the Culture

 

We all have our own image of bureaucracy: the Phone Company. The Government. The School System. But bureaucracy is above all a mentality. Many of the syndromes of the 30,000-member organization are replicated in the 100-member enterprise. Every organization has a culture - sometimes two or three fighting for control. The culture determines how people work together and how they respond to change. No leader can succeed without understanding and shaping the norms at work.

 

Declaring Victory

 

Most of the time when you start change initiatives, you get immediate lift. The easy pickings are always the first to harvest. It's important to show early results and to celebrate success. But if you don't work for systematic, continuous improvement, the organization will snap back to original shape. True victory is like a compelling vision - it is never really achieved.

 

Letting People Catch Their Breath

 

As you reach certain milestones you want to take the pressure off - to slow down, let people rest. You cannot. Change has to part of everyone's job description. You cannot keep people in perpetual fire-fighting mode, but initially, people do have to respond as if their house were on fire. You then have to create a structure and ongoing process to make change a part of the business.

 

Delegating the Change Process

 

The senior executive has to walk the halls, make the calls, be physically and emotionally present. You cannot tell subordinates to present your plan to the staff and give you a weekly update (a popular approach in Silicon Valley). I have found that people love to give PowerPoint presentations, but they hate to actually give you information. The change process starts with you - how you run your meetings, manage your calendar, share information.

 

Believing Your Own Press Clips

 

It is easy to be seduced by success. Every leader receives glowing reports from the field. Discount the good news and pay attention to your doubts. Personal and organizational success is fragile and fleeting. You should take pride in your and your team's accomplishments, but you have to let people know that the best is always ahead of you.

 

Leaving a Legacy

 

You cannot build value for customers, shareholders, or the community without a vision and values for your organization. You build value by becoming the leader in your field, the company that everybody wants to work for, buy from, or invest in.

 

It takes tremendous confidence to stake out that territory and to lead others toward it. You have to withstand the doubts and loneliness of leadership. At the same time you have to acknowledge to yourself and others that you don't always know how you will reach your destination. For others to follow you through times of uncertainty requires mutual trust and faith. That is what clarity of vision and commitment to values can bring.

 

I once thought that the test of personal leadership was the number of people that follow a leader when he or she moves to a new organization. But what is more rewarding is to look across an organization and see the number of leaders in place, people who share a common aspiration and have the tools and wisdom - the vision and values - to achieve something great. That is any leader's greatest legacy.