Formulating a vision is one thing.
Getting others to agree to, follow and champion that vision is another.
This is a top concern for my clients, whether they are participating in a global executive leadership programme or young co-founders in an enterprise lab.
Their challenges remind me of when I became leader of an organisation and found resistance to my vision.
Drawing from my prior experience as an analyst, I had spoken to a wide range of people, inside and outside the organisation. I was thorough in the preparation of the paper I presented to the executive committee. It provided background to my thinking and the direction I wanted to take the organisation.
I had entitled the paper, Neither an iconoclast nor a defender of sacred cows. I believed it was my role to stir the pot and to initiate some new thinking, practices and behaviours whilst honouring and retaining what had been done well.
What I hadn’t appreciated was how threatened a few longstanding members of the committee felt, despite my efforts to show appreciation for the work of my predecessors. These members thought I was brash and that I didn’t value them. It was a baptism of fire and I learned several leadership lessons:
- to listen more deeply (sometimes what people express on the surface doesn’t reflect their underlying fears)
- to pace change initiatives and bring people on board before making big announcements
- to recognise that people respond differently to new information (a well-articulated paper, may feel too analytical for some)
- to be more attentive to emotions and to nuance communications for different stakeholders
What has been your experience as you took on a leadership role?
What worked well to engage your team members and to align them to your vision?
If you would like to learn how to become a more compelling leader and how to engage your team effectively with your vision, let’s have a conversation to explore the choices, decisions, beliefs and structures you create. We can determine what is working for you, what you can do differently and what no longer serves you.
Send a note to sylvana@sylvanacaloni.com or call me on +44 (0) 7952 068133 to book a time with me.
