Change :
Change demands a letting go. In order to grasp new
possibilities, we must let go of what is comfortable and familiar. Change not
only asks that of us; it demands it, with an urgency that can be
uncomfortable – and even frightening. But try as we might, we cannot
simultaneously cling to a familiar past and grab hold of a promising future. So
as individuals, how can we challenge our comfortable habits and risk an
uncertain outcome? And as leaders, how can we inspire others to follow us into
the unknown?
A few insights that my mentors have shared with me over the
years may offer some clues.
“The real measure of a leader is how
many people would follow if no one had to.”
Strip away the title, the grade level, the reporting
relationships that you enjoy, and how many of your team would still follow you
into battle? We often confuse the ability to command action with the ability to
inspire and motivate action. Why do people follow? I believe it boils down to
three factors.
First, people follow an individual who gives them a higher purpose
and makes them feel part of something greater than themselves.
Second, people follow a leader whom they can trust. Someone who has
the courage of his or her own convictions and an unerring inner compass which
always points True North. Someone who can step with confidence into the most
chaotic of circumstances, set direction and maintain an unwavering course.
Third, people follow a leader who protects their interests – in
fact, who puts their team’s interests ahead of their own.
I grew up with this type of leader on both my sides of my
family. One grandfather was a ship’s captain who made it very clear that, put
to the test, a captain puts women and children on the lifeboats first, then
able-bodied seamen, and finally – only if there is room, and only if there is
nothing more to be done on board – takes a seat himself. Fortunately, my
grandfather never had a shipwreck, but I have no doubt how he would have acted
if he had! And not surprisingly, he enjoyed the service of a dedicated crew who
followed him from ship to ship for over three decades. My other grandfather was
an investment banker at the time of the 1929 U.S. financial crash. His two
partners walked out of the firm declaring bankruptcy, but he spent the next
thirty years of his professional life repaying the firm’s debts. His client
list, and his reputation in the East Coast city where he lived and worked, grew
steadily, even during the Depression’s darkest years.
So who are we as leaders? Do we create an uplifting vision for
our team? Do we have the courage to take an unpopular or unprecedented
position, in which we truly believe? Do we step confidently into the unknown?
And, do we put our team members in the lifeboats first or rush for a seat
ourselves?
Stay curious
I’m a physical scientist by background, for both my graduate and
undergraduate degrees. A geologist, a student of rocks and soil, of mountains
forming and wearing away, of earthquakes twisting and rending the earth’s
crust. People often ask how my physical sciences background relates to working
as a management consultant. In actuality, few things could have prepared me
better. First and foremost, the physical sciences instill curiosity. How? Why?
When? If this, then what? Staying curious is a crucial attribute for a
leader – and particularly a leader of change. Curiosity allows one to envision
the unprecedented. To consider possibilities. To learn. What’s the biggest
obstacle to learning? Knowing. When we think we know it all, we close our minds
to new information. Curiosity keeps us open and also builds bridges. Instead of
focusing on personal differences, on things that annoy us, objections to new
ideas, we seek the whys and the what-ifs. We suspend judgment and consider what
might be. We ponder what the other guy is thinking and feeling. A manager can
be dogmatic, insisting on the world as he or she knows it. A true leader is
open to the possibilities.
“Right doesn’t matter when you cease
to be effective.”
Anyone who’s been in my orbit for a few years has heard me say
this. It’s probably the single most important piece of advice I’ve ever
received. It’s easy for all of us to get hung up on being right. Probably each
of us can remember a time when we were so bent on defending a position or a
belief that we ceased to be effective. I certainly can! In those situations, we
lose track of our impact on others, we close our minds to new information, and
we focus on the battle, rather than the war. We sacrifice our tactical
maneuverability, as well as our strategic vision.
When we think we need to be right, what we really
need is to be effective. A leader who is focused on being right will
find himself or herself thwarted on many occasions. In contrast, a leader who
stays effective can adjust on the fly, suspend disbelief and consider new
alternatives, take a risk without fear of seeming a fool. A leader who stays
effective removes roadblocks to getting things done and has a “sixth sense”
about what is, and is not, worth spending time on. As leaders, when others see
us opening ourselves to possibilities, changing our position and tactics as we
get better information, being willing to compromise, and avoiding useless
conflicts, we attract followers and our influence expands.
These things — consciousness of building followers, staying
curious, focusing on being effective rather than on being right — have helped
me lead many changes, and face many more in the past 35 years. When I left
graduate school, I joined what was essentially an all-male industry. Women are
commonplace in oil companies today; when I went to work, we were a novelty — we
were literally reading and writing the book on gender diversity in the
workplace. When I gave up geology to work in shared services, strategic
communications, and organizational change, my geologist friends thought I was
crazy. When I left a prominent western consulting firm to join the fledgling
Infosys Consulting in 2005, my consulting friends thought I was nuts. And yet,
each of these experiences has dramatically enriched both my professional and
personal life. Each time, I’ve also had the good fortune to be able to help and
inspire others to pursue their own passions and goals.
How as leaders do we inspire change? By meeting it boldly and
forthrightly ourselves, and by blazing a trail for others to follow. The best
preparation for leading change is living it.
