If You're Not In, You're In the Way!

A reader wrote me a few weeks ago with a request for resources on the topic of how to deal with individuals reluctant or unable to embrace change. He asserted that as much as leadership requires courage to take calculated risks to move the organization along the path of transformation and ultimately change, it requires a different type of courage to deal with some of the organizational obstacles that might be standing in the way. Namely, this colleague was asking about how to go about removing these obstacles, which in some cases are individuals in the organization who are not able to embrace the change. Touchy topic.

Let’s start by admitting there are no straightforward solutions to this issue even though this seems to come up regularly in any leadership and management practice. Some leadership gurus stress the importance of teams and team skill building, like Peter Senge does in his widely acclaimed book The fifth discipline: The art &practice of the learning organization.  Senge contends the best approach is to consider the collective, and not the individual. But what if you assess your team on an individual level and find that one person is underperforming?

As a change leader, you already know there are numerous steps and measures to take into account while leading up to a change and eventually to the execution of the change. During each of these stages, you have the opportunity (and dare I say, the responsibility) to assess the environment, to gauge staff morale about the change, to evaluate staff and management uptake on the notion of the change, and to identify problem areas. If you suspect one of your team members is struggling with a change, you also must perform an objective assessment of the individual’s competency to cope with the change.

The experts also recommend an assessment of whether or not the individual possesses the emotional preparedness and attitudes to change. And what if there still isn’t any commitment? At that point, you would probably categorize this individual as a low performer as described by Quint Studer in Hardwiring Excellence.  I like Studer’s nifty recipe to tackle this head-on:

·         Describe the behavior you see and what you want to see change (I asked you to speak to your team about our new strategic direction and you didn’t follow through on this.  Your colleagues are worried about proceeding without your team on board with the change.)

·         Evaluate how you feel  (I am really disappointed and concerned because we are rolling this out to our stakeholders and your own staff are not yet aware of our new direction)

·         Show how you’d like it done (I’ll join you at the next staff meeting and lead a discussion on this important subject)

·         Let them know the impact of not following through next time (You have to demonstrate that you’re onboard with this our new direction or we will have to talk about serious consequences)

Of course, Studer’s message regarding low performers is clear: you give people a chance, but if all else fails, you MUST ACT. Simply put, low performers need feedback to pick up, or move out.

As difficult as it is, low performers can really affect the rest of your team’s performance and your efforts to change.  Act swiftly and decisively once your objective assessment reveals you have a low performer in your midst, and when necessary, help them move on.

If you have comments you'd like to share with me about this blog, please write me at jbezz@shaw.ca