Leadership

Maya Townsend Presents on Change Strategy at The Build Network

by

Maya Townsend of Partnering Resources presents “Six Strategies for Making Change Stick (HINT: Connections Matter!)” in July at the 2013 Build Boston SOLVE! Session. Here’s how Build describes the change strategy session:

Challenge: To get better, we have to evolve — but only 38% of leaders say their change efforts have actually improved performance. Why is it so tough to win buy-in and make change stick?

Solution: Change by dictum doesn’t work. The only thing that does: connections, and lot of them. Studies show that effective change makers simultaneously employ these six strategies for building the individual, social, and structural connections that make transformation excite — and, therefore, take hold within — an organization.

Go Slow to Go Fast: Make Your Next Change Initiative Fly

by
Tortoise_and_Hare

Ah, the satisfaction of getting things done. Like many others, I have a very long “to do” list. Nothing makes me happier than whittling down that list or knocking off the last item of the day.

But in the rush to get things done, it’s important that we take time to set ourselves up for success. Sometimes, we have to go slow to go fast.

Why Go Slow?

Fast gets things done quickly… sometimes. Slow helps ensure that we get the right things done quickly.

Say we’re leading a mission-critical, fast-track project within our company. It represents a major change in how people operate, and it’s tied to a new corporate strategy.

Building Your Network: How to Make It Work with Your Boss

by
collaboration at work

Is your biggest networking problem your boss? Read this article for tips and techniques on how to network with your boss.

The relationship with your boss is one of the most important in the workplace. Your boss has the power to recommend you for new assignments, high-profile teams, promotions, and raises. She can make your life miserable or help you achieve your goals. Yet, despite the importance of this relationship, there are many more books on how to manage direct reports than how to manage bosses. This article explores four factors—style, context, relationship, and urgency—to consider before giving up on the relationship with your boss.

Trust Falls at Work… Seriously? Trust in the Workplace

by
trust_fall_rosscreations

I talk with a lot of people about networks. I tell them that, at the very root of the matter, networks are about trust. We build relationships with people we trust in order to solve problems, get things done, and imagine what could make our companies successful and the world a better place.

When I have these conversations about trust, one group of people nods. They intuitively understand the importance of being able to trust your colleagues.

IT Talent: Technology Leaders with People Problems

by

Squirrels are great at foraging for nuts, building nests, and finding ways into my “squirrel-proof” birdfeeder (that’s not a picture of my personal birdfeeder, but it gives you the idea). But they’re never going to be great swimmers. Similarly, some leaders are never going to be great at managing people. So what do we do?

Goodbye Manager, Hello Individual Contributor

The most obvious answer is to shift poor people managers into individual contributor roles. With this solution, people aren’t forced to do something they can’t do well. At the same time, the company doesn’t lose their knowledge and experience.

There are two problems, however.

Being Better: Strategic Leadership for Business Ecosystems

by

If you live in a regulated monopoly, feel free to skip this post and go play golf. For the rest of you, here’s something important that you probably need to hear again:

  • Today’s successes are not individual successes. They’re collective successes.
  • Today’s businesses are not single entities. They’re part of complex ecosystems.
  • The methods you learned in business school are probably not helping you (unless you had some really hip professors).

What does this mean?

First: If you’re someone who gets more energy from doing it all yourself than from working through others, you probably shouldn’t be leading people. People used to talk about the shift from managing yourself and managing others.

Lessons from the Octopus: Business Ecosystems, Adaptability, and Change Leadership

by

Why should companies care about octopuses? It turns out that there’s plenty to learn from these creatures about adaptability, change leadership, and business ecosystems.

Rafe Sagarin, author of Learning from the Octopus: How Secrets from Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorist Attacks, Natural Disasters, and Disease, is a fan of the octopus. Not only are these creatures highly intelligent and capable of problem solving, they also have the ability to camouflage in sophisticated ways. When moving from one area of the ocean to another, they rapidly change color to match their surroundings. To the human eye, it’s almost too fast to see: octopuses blend almost instantaneously with the fauna behind them.

Change Leadership in Troubling Times

by

Irene Brank worked as director of life and annuity operations for the life division of First Allmerica Financial. She faced one of the most difficult of situations someone could face: managing employees facing almost certain job loss during a company closure. The 250-plus employees in the life business had to service existing clients while transferring knowledge to an acquiring company.

The potential for harm was great: en masse departures, careless work, or even retribution and sabotage were possible if Allmerica failed to help its employees with the consequences of closure. To meet the challenge, leaders of the life division decided to embark on an ambitious learning initiative.

Building Networks to Support Change Leadership

by

Years ago, I coached a new manager who did the worst thing possible. In his insecurity about his new role and desire to succeed, he forbade his direct reports from having any conversations with others in the organization without him in the room.

It was a disaster. The direct reports felt micromanaged and untrusted. They told others that their new boss was a controlling, egotistical jerk. They certainly weren’t going to follow him anywhere.

This new leader did, by the way, see the error of his decision and improve his behavior. However, he started on the wrong foot by failing at one of the central jobs of the leader: building trust.

Change Leadership: How to Make the Change Stick

by

This excellent, undervalued article should get more attention. According to Grenny, Maxfield, & Shimberg in MIT Sloan Management Review, applying 4 or more of the following helps increase the likelihood by ten times that the change will stick.

Their model says that there are three ways to influence: at the individual, social, or structural level. Then, there are two ways to engage people: through motivation (helping them gain motivation for the change) or through ability (helping them gain the skills needed to support the change). All together, this creates six ways to influence change. Using four or more increases the likelihood of success.

Is your strategy stuck in the 20th century?

Image of "Is Your Strategy Stuck in 20th Century"

Sign up to receive the two-document Strategic Resilience set and join our low volume list.

We’ll never share your information with anyone. Period.

* - required