Thursday, May 31, 2007

Who's Really On Board?

I had an epiphany last week, and it went like this: After giving a speech on competitive strategy to the board of directors and senior executive team of a large corporation, I was chatting with a few front-line employees who were arranging the logistics of getting me back to the airport. Several of them had heard my speech and had a few unequivocal comments about it. The thrust of their message was: Oren, you need to come back here over and over again because those guys (the board and executive team) talk a good game but aren’t going to do any of the things you advised. In fact, what they do regularly is exactly what you warned against doing in your speech. Then they proceeded to tell me why, in effect, they were hungering for leadership that was bold and imaginative, and what the potentials of the corporation would be if that leadership was in evidence. I remember thinking: Wait a minute, I’ve heard this before. Often. And then the epiphany: When considering innovative action and radical change, top management often asks me “How do we get everybody on board?”, meaning how do we convince and enlist all employees to go a new route? That’s an important question, and I’ve addressed it often in my work. But the fact is that I’ve often heard the same kind of question asked from “lower-level” people about the people upstairs: In effect, how do we get “them” (top management, or our bosses) on board? The more I thought about it, I realized I’ve heard the question of getting people on board asked as often from the bottom as from the top. So why is our professional attention always on how to pull those at the bottom? Perhaps we need to redirect our attention a bit. I’ve frequently told my executive clients to stop worrying so much about getting “everybody” on board. “Everybody” won’t get on board, but in every organization there are many creative, proactive individuals in all levels and functions who are straining at the bit, or at least would be very responsive, for new opportunities to make a difference and take accountability for progress. By developing and liberating those people, and rewarding them properly, the pressure is on the career skeptics to change or leave. With my new epiphany, I now realize that for years I’ve underestimated the number, and power, of the mid-level and front-line folks who really are eager for change. They’re there, and they’re ready to rumble, but what they want to see is management that walks the talk. They want leaders who lead innovative change with collaborative, transparent action, not just periodic words, memos, and directives. They want leaders who themselves are visibly engaged with the "two steps forward-one step backwards" process of executing change. They want optimistic leaders who regularly inspire people to march with them toward unchartered territory. Yeah, the traditional question about getting lower levels on board is still legit. But from now on, when I hear that question from senior people, I’m going to gently throw it right back to them: Are you sure that you’re on board? And if so, are you sure you’re showing it?

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