An alternative title for this could be “How to stay sane when people around you keep saying no, and are just WRONG. Why won’t they just listen?”
Leadership is a lonely business. And the higher up you go, the worse it gets.
And when you are trying to get your team or your organisation to do something new, all the inevitable resistance can really make you feel like you’re the only one who wants to make things better.
You’ve been hired to lead the change, make the processes better, get better results, improve efficiency and quality.
They know you can do this.
You know you can do this. You’ve done it before.
But this is what you get:
But this is how we do it.
It’s too complicated to make that kind of change.
We just don’t have the resources nor the time.
It won’t work.
This happened to a client of mine.
They joined a company to help take it out of the technology dark ages (my words, not theirs).
There were a lot of key projects to deliver, and the way things are done also needed to change: everything was just taking too long. And it was unnecessary. Improvements could be easily made, with the right guidance.
They joined the company, and then hit a wall of resistance.
Stages of grief were experienced: frustration, denial, despair.
Why should they even stay?
So we dipped into the Bigger Game playbook and looked for Allies.
In every company, there will be people who support your ideas or at least support the outcome you are trying to create.
When we look for them, we can find them. And then we are no longer a lone voice trying to move the mountain.
We can become part of a merry band ready to right the wrongs of social injustice!
Embark on world domination!
Or implement a platform for sharing data instead of sending excel files back and forth via email. (true story).
Allies are the best.
They’ll encourage you. Challenge you. Share the load. Co-create with you.
Back you up in meetings.
And it’s worth repeating: if you look for them, you will find them.
Then all you need to do is have a chat.
Who knows, maybe you’re the person they’ve been waiting for.
“What’s a leadership series? How’s it different from the thought series or coaching tips? Good questions.“ This series gives you tips to take your own leadership to the next level, and ways you can extend your own capabilities. Ready to take your skills to the next level, but aren’t sure where to start? Get in touch with me.