There are so many different theories on how to lead change. Tom Peters says we should not discuss change but organisational revolution (Peters,1991); Chris Argyris talks about change management as flawed advice (Argyris, 1985); Kotter puts forward a top down change transformation process (Kotter, 1995); Beer, Eisnestat and Spectors, discuss a bottom-up process (Eisnestat and Spectors, 1990) and that is just to name a few ways of looking at this aspect of leadership.
On top of that, currently leaders are facing challenges on how we should work: hybrid or full time and if hybrid then what is that. They are also tackling challenges on how to create a sense of belonging, how to keep or re-build culture; how to meet the different needs of the 5 generations in the workplace; neurodiversity is now a big focus for them too, not to mention generative AI and what they should do about it.
Then there are the UN sustainability goals that leaders are focusing on and that goes beyond making sure lights are turned off when not in use and recycling – they now have to think about modern slavery and how their supply chain operates at multiple levels.
Is it any wonder with all this going on and needing to be addressed that leaders are feeling over-whelmed and a bit like a dear in headlights?
Many leaders feel frozen and are struggling to decide what/where do we go and how do we get there – is it right, or left, or up, down or a little on the diagonal?
So how as leaders do we break this paralysis that we have been feeling? Well, I think we take a lesson from Maria in the “Sound of Music” and start at the very beginning and take a look at what we do know.
- We know we can not lead the way we used to because we need to do things differently for the simple fact that the world is a very different place and change is happening exponentially and constantly and that is not going to stop. So doing what we did before isn’t going to work.
- We know that now the cat is out of the bag with hybrid working and generative AI that going backwards is not the right direction – we need to move forward, which is what we all like to do in business. We need to re-think the world and our place in it – what do we want to be as an organisation and how do we want to be thought of by our customers, clients, staff, colleagues, peers, family and friends. What and who are we?
That is a challenging question and it is not going to be easy or a quick fix, but the only way we can even begin to answer all the noisy questions above is to know our direction – our vision – our purpose. Without that we will remain lost and continue to feel like we are in chaos because we won’t know where we are going.
In order to answer the question of vision and purpose we need to stop doing what we are doing and take a moment and breath. I mean really stop – not pretend we are stopping at that stop sign and ‘accidently’ just slowly roll through it; but actually STOP. Then take a deep breath – maybe even close your eyes and slowly re-open them as you exhale. Start to look around you – what is going on and what is not going on and how; what do you notice? What do you see? Take note – don’t judge, just observe.
Write these observations down and ask your leadership team to do the same and then bring all your observations together and just recognise what you all have noticed. Afterwards, then you can start to analyse and piece together a picture with all the puzzle pieces you all brought to the table. Then stand back and take a look at what you created – does it feel right? Does it fit the business?
If the answer is yes to all of you in that room, then test it – take it to your people and get their feedback – what do they think? Do they also think it is a fit? If so, then you have your vision and purpose and the questions now become about figuring out how you get there.
Notice though, now that you have your direction of travel, answering all the challenges on how everyone in the organisation needs to work, creating belonging and culture, what needs addressing from a neurodiversity perspective and how, how to manage and lead generative AI and what to do about implementing the UN sustainability goals become a lot easier to answer and some may even be obvious. This is because you now know as an organisation what you want to be and how you want to be thought of – you have a vision, a purpose and a direction.
Jennifer Bryan is a published author, speaker and Director of Change and Leadership, who has worked with nearly 40 different organisations across multiple industries. She is also a Non Executive Board Member of the ACMP (Association of Change Management Professionals) UK Chapter. She believes in helping people – in whatever capacity she can – by making sure people are thought of first, last and throughout change projects and programmes. She has created a unique leading change framework, the ABChange Model, and uses her commercial insight to help lead people in change. Jennifer is author of Leading People in Change – A practical guide.
December 3, 2024
Do you have leadership paralysis?
by Jennifer Bryan • Business, Comment, JB
On top of that, currently leaders are facing challenges on how we should work: hybrid or full time and if hybrid then what is that. They are also tackling challenges on how to create a sense of belonging, how to keep or re-build culture; how to meet the different needs of the 5 generations in the workplace; neurodiversity is now a big focus for them too, not to mention generative AI and what they should do about it.
Then there are the UN sustainability goals that leaders are focusing on and that goes beyond making sure lights are turned off when not in use and recycling – they now have to think about modern slavery and how their supply chain operates at multiple levels.
Is it any wonder with all this going on and needing to be addressed that leaders are feeling over-whelmed and a bit like a dear in headlights?
Many leaders feel frozen and are struggling to decide what/where do we go and how do we get there – is it right, or left, or up, down or a little on the diagonal?
So how as leaders do we break this paralysis that we have been feeling? Well, I think we take a lesson from Maria in the “Sound of Music” and start at the very beginning and take a look at what we do know.
That is a challenging question and it is not going to be easy or a quick fix, but the only way we can even begin to answer all the noisy questions above is to know our direction – our vision – our purpose. Without that we will remain lost and continue to feel like we are in chaos because we won’t know where we are going.
In order to answer the question of vision and purpose we need to stop doing what we are doing and take a moment and breath. I mean really stop – not pretend we are stopping at that stop sign and ‘accidently’ just slowly roll through it; but actually STOP. Then take a deep breath – maybe even close your eyes and slowly re-open them as you exhale. Start to look around you – what is going on and what is not going on and how; what do you notice? What do you see? Take note – don’t judge, just observe.
Write these observations down and ask your leadership team to do the same and then bring all your observations together and just recognise what you all have noticed. Afterwards, then you can start to analyse and piece together a picture with all the puzzle pieces you all brought to the table. Then stand back and take a look at what you created – does it feel right? Does it fit the business?
If the answer is yes to all of you in that room, then test it – take it to your people and get their feedback – what do they think? Do they also think it is a fit? If so, then you have your vision and purpose and the questions now become about figuring out how you get there.
Notice though, now that you have your direction of travel, answering all the challenges on how everyone in the organisation needs to work, creating belonging and culture, what needs addressing from a neurodiversity perspective and how, how to manage and lead generative AI and what to do about implementing the UN sustainability goals become a lot easier to answer and some may even be obvious. This is because you now know as an organisation what you want to be and how you want to be thought of – you have a vision, a purpose and a direction.
Jennifer Bryan is a published author, speaker and Director of Change and Leadership, who has worked with nearly 40 different organisations across multiple industries. She is also a Non Executive Board Member of the ACMP (Association of Change Management Professionals) UK Chapter. She believes in helping people – in whatever capacity she can – by making sure people are thought of first, last and throughout change projects and programmes. She has created a unique leading change framework, the ABChange Model, and uses her commercial insight to help lead people in change. Jennifer is author of Leading People in Change – A practical guide.