Peter Block is quoted as stating,
“There is a longing in each of us to invest in things that matter, and to have the organizations in which we work be successful…Our task is to create organizations we believe in…to be part of creating something we care about so we can endure the sacrifice, risk, and adventure that commitment entails” (Haskins, Liedtka, & Rosenblum, 1998).
Most leaders would agree with this statement. They will say that they truly want their teams to thrive and for their organizational effectiveness to soar. They appear to understand that they must make some changes to their way of doing things if they are to see different results. They may have attended an online webinar about it, or even personally made an inspiring speech about the need for a new approach to their efforts. They set goals and make commitments for all to hear, but then comes the hard part…action.
Kegan & Lahey (2009) state, “Change does not fail to occur because of insincerity…it fails because we are living a contradiction.” We all know of organizations, or are part of one, where stated desired objectives are thwarted because the subsequent actions do not match up with them. The leaders’ desire to work together more as a team is present, and at a minimum, superficially sincere, however, put simply, the walk has not yet matched the talk. What is needed is to “build a new set of ways to bridge the gap between intentions and behaviors” (Kegan & Lahey). But, as said above, this is the hard part.
I have observed an organization brimming with potential with a leader who sincerely wants great things to happen. They speak of the needs to be met and the urgency of the situation, and how their team needs to step up to new levels of commitment and creativity in order to bring about improved results. The problem is that this is where it stops, with talk. A quick analysis of the difference between the actions being done with the hope of new results and the actions of the past, which brought unsatisfactory results, displays little difference in results. There is no quantifiable difference in activity, yet there is a huge expectation that the result will change! There is an old adage that “the definition of insanity is to do the same things you’ve always done, but expect different results.” Insanity, no doubt! I could write volumes on this issue, which I’m sure will be a part of these blog posts, but here are a couple of things which must be a part of a leader’s toolbox if they are to bring about change and produce a real difference of results.
The first is courage. Block states,
“It takes enormous courage to change your way of operating. You go through a period of enormous vulnerability, moments of great unpredictability when the future seems foggy instead of clear. All of us get anxious when we do that; it takes courage, and it’s a conversation about faith, about hope, about some kind of reason for doing it that’s a little more compelling than one of economics.”
Leaders who want to improve their effectiveness must lead with courage. They must be willing to take on the hard issues and do things differently, with the emphasis on doing things.
Secondly, the leader of change must be willing to lead by example, as “hope is not an action” (Cawsey & Deszca, 2007). I love that quote. I’ve heard some leaders say, “I’m hoping things will change” or “I’m so hopeful.” But let’s be real. You can hope all you want, but if you’re not willing to do the things that different results require, your hope is ill-fated. Yes, I know, miracles happen and God can step in and do things without us. But you know what? As much as I am a believer that He can, I’m equally convinced that if we aren’t willing to do our part, He’s going to allow us to reap what we sow, which brings me to an important part of this — leading by example is not telling your team to make changes and then still doing what you’ve always done. Leading by example means being the first one to make changes in how we do things and continually reinventing ourselves to be the best we can be. We can’t make everyone else do things differently while we just do what we’ve always done.
Integrity requires that we walk our talk and lead by example. Courage requires that we be willing to do some hard things. In reality, nothing will change if we only sit, talk, and hope for it to do so. We must act. We must act differently.
Lead well.