Photo by Will Suddreth on Unsplash
Case 1
Max is the CEO of a mid-size engineering company. He’d just attended a conference of engineers examining the future of fabrication. He was brimming with ideas.
Calling a meeting of his direct reports on his return, he required them to come up with a plan to reduce costs by 20%, so as to invest in technology upgrades within the next twelve months.
He also wanted them to show how they could reduce staffing levels by 10% once the technology was upgraded.
He also wanted them to prove they had the right talent to execute and embed the changes forthcoming.
His direct reports left the meeting somewhat stressed by the demands.
They assumed things would settle down soon and mostly go back to normal.
“Max’s just fired up from the conference” they thought. “Day to day business will soon dominate his attention”.
Sure enough, the usual firefighting Max felt compelled to pursue corralled his attention and efforts.
He even asked his direct reports to refocus on current demands and put his earlier requirements on hold for now.
So, no change, business as usual.
Case 2
Sharon is the founder of a seven-year-old financial services agency with 20 staff.
She knows a technology upgrade and a review of staffing levels and roles is a pressing requirement if the agency is to remain competitive.
Her instincts told her she needed to start with herself. After all, she is the leader and leaders go first, she thought.
Sharon began with a list of questions to herself:
- What’s the benefit of me changing first?
- What assumptions am I making about where I’m at, what I want, what I know and how I see things occurring?
- What do I need to change in myself?
- What would my people like me to change, start, stop or keep doing and being?
- Once I’m clear on what I need to change in myself, how do I go about that?
Sharon answered those questions over several weeks, including the feedback from her staff.
Because she took the time to ponder rather than rush for answers, Sharon was confident and motivated to adopt and embed the answers.
Her staff noticed Sharon’s changing and began to ask Sharon if they could examine what they were doing too.
They even asked her if they should examine the business for technology upgrade opportunities and staff structure.
Sharon smiled as she agreed with their suggestions, adding that she’d back their well-researched business cases for recommended changes.
“Remember we seek to be the preferred employer and preferred provider of our service in our market. Your business cases must deliver on that aim” was all Sharon needed to clarify with them before they embarked on creating their plan.
Gandhi said, “Be the change that you want to see in the world”.
Leaders, doesn’t that apply to your business too?
