“How can I do something different?”, “can you help me achieve my customer and productivity targets?”, “it feels like I have tried all of these things before, what else can I do?” These are real questions that we all hear and in fact subtle cries for help from leaders and teams.
Everyone wants to do a great job and make a difference, but unless we start to look at things differently and really want to try new things it’s a tough goal to achieve. This is why it is important to help people understand not only the power of what we do, but HOW we do it.
If we continue to see our problems in the same way that we always have and talk to our teams about them in the same manner, there should be no surprise that we are just putting a different coloured t-shirt on the same thing. That’s why we often do bad things better, instead of creating new and better things… there is a difference.
As teams experience high pressured events like achieving end of year budgets, changing targets, takeovers, mergers or rationalisation we will often do what we have always done. This is why being able to be choiceful in our behaviour (and have the agility to change it) will help us in getting different, improved outcomes. As leaders if we start to act differently we will see benefits for ourselves, others and the broader system within which we work. I’m not saying what we do now isn’t right but often it can be the only way that we know to approach challenges, particularly when our stakes raise. Sometimes it is also all that we have seen in action and are therefore, able to imitate in our own professional models. Worse of all it could be what is expected of us and rewarded by the system within which we work.
Leading in an authentic way is a courageous thing to do; it often means admitting we don’t know, we have made a mistake or that we might re-write history with a new mistake. There is one thing that I am sure of and that is that there is a need to create a psychological safety net for the people that we lead if we want them to come on the journey (whatever that journey is) with us. Often this means that we have to do things that are different to what is expected of us. This is how we can show up differently and do different things!
Very often as leaders we set the direction of the work and create a climate and expectation that our teams will follow us to deliver this. This is done through hierarchy, process and rules, using time based, delivery focussed language. This is how we have always done it around here! In fact this is often what gets us promoted!
As the world evolves and technology changes we also need to change. We say that we want innovation, difference and a happy place to work. If we were leading in a choiceful way and showing behavioural competence as leaders why are these aspirations and not reflections? Why do we need to write them on our walls and shine bright lights on them across the organisation? This is how Structural Dynamics helps. It gives us a morally neutral language that people can relate to, use, work with and see make a difference. Quickly.
As leaders we can create or develop our teams to be able to listen, have generative dialogue with healthy challenges and correction. We can do this with finesse and pace. The team can self diagnose what’s happening in the room to move forward. This is done through an open, inclusive structure that enables participation and challenge, within defined parameters. We speak and respect the language of completion, theory, values and care. All of this is done with no judgement. I’m not right or better. Of course sometimes we need to hold firm. Rules and regulation don’t disappear, the way that we work with them, not for them does. We all have the resources within.
Once people start to see how easy it is and how quickly teams form new ideas and are open to working differently the outcomes are phenomenal. As good leaders we now should be focussing on creating an environment to allow these resources to be unleashed. This way we will drive innovation and improvement for all.