 |

Leading Change: Pick Up Your Own Room (But No One Else's) . . . |
 | 2 |
| |
|
Submitted by Theodore Heisenberg
| RSS Feed
| Add Comment
| Bookmark Me!
Just this morning, my wife Holly caught me red-handed straightening up my 12 year-olds room.
This, not 2 hours after we both communicated to our precious Katie in no uncertain terms that she would go no where, see no one, do no thing until she removed the ½ eaten sandwich, empty sprite cans, soiled laundry . . . and only the Creator knows what else... to reveal what once was, and could be again a nicely appointed pre-teen bedroom.
As Holly observed (and shared in a manner unfit to print here)...
I was truly serving no purpose and no one by doing Katies job for her. Not me, not the family, and certainly not Katie.
Sponsors, Change Leaders, Consultants Are you Picking Up Someone Elses Room? Trying to get someone else to pick up yours?
If your organization is engaged in change -- and it is -- there are literally & figuratively places you can not go, people you can not see, and things you can not do until your room is picked up . . . and Only You can do it.
Attention Change Sponsors:
1) YOU CAN NOT DELEGATE SPONSORSHIP.
- YOU must clearly communicate where youre going & why
- YOU must consistently live your message -- with visible actions that overtly model and support the shifts youre asking of the organization
- YOU must allocate the necessary resources (technical, human, financial) to get the real work of change done.
Your sharper, more seasoned Change Team members wont let you try to peddle these responsibilities off on them anyway but then again, Change Leadership Mastery isnt exactly the norm in most organizations. So save yourself some heartache, and your organization some money . . . Pick Up Your Own Room.
** Yes, those with the juice to do so throughout the orgnization must do all of this as well. The gurus call it Cascading Sponsorship. But if the video from the top of the organization doesnt match the audio from the middle . . . this change (and the next, and the next) will fail, period.
2) Now Get Out Of The Way -- and Let Your Change Team Do Their Jobs.
Sponsoring Change while simultaneously running the business is a full time gig. This is where your head and heart belong -- being a good SPONSOR, period. Driving change at the tactical level -- even if you were good at it (and youre not) -- is a terribly irresponsible way to invest your time, energy, talents, and political capital.
Attention Change Execution Team (Change Leaders, Consultants, etc.):
1) You cant run (only) the second ½ of the play.
Not in this game the price & risk of failure is just too high.
You need to be there WHEN THE PLAYS ARE FIRST CALLED at the very onset -- to guide your execs in crafting the strategy. (And dont whine about not being invited to the locker room until halftime. If thats the case, find another team this ones going to lose anyway.)
2) Beware the Lazy Sponsor.
Well, lazy is less accurate in most cases than simply uneducated -- uneducated about what it really takes to properly sponsor (effectively express, model, and reinforce) change.
In any case . . . Dont Pick Up Their Room (try to do their job for them).
Yeah, I know sounds ridiculous, but the allure can be incredibly strong. Its the fools gold of our arena. I get calls everyday from OD / HR folks and internal consultants trying to take on major change efforts without any real sponsorship in place.
Bright, credentialed professionals who have been lulled into the idea that they can actually be surrogate sponsors -- because theyve been given some training budget and project management headcount for their change projects. Afterall, theyre the resident change experts anyway . . . and "Joe Bob" Sponsor is just too busy finalizing the latest merger.
The next time your Execs try to throw money (in lieu of genuine sponsorship) behind a major change initiative, invest it in T Bills or double-up on the shrimp trays at the next retreat . . . Either will produce a much healthier ROI than even the most educated and skilled workforce engaged in ill-sponsored change.
Gotta Go . . . Katie left a flip-flop downstairs, and the dog thinks its a ribeye.
- Stone
|
|
 |

|
LinkedIn Recommendation:
AH'NAY SATORI - Owner, SATORI ENTERPRISES, INC. - My experience with Teo was initiated at a professional social event. During this event, I discovered instantly that Teo was very personable with an excellent sense of humor. This foundation set the tone to conduct future business. Having a new subsidiary business, Herbal Enlightenment, I desired to employ Teo's company to administer SEO services. During the duration of this relationship, I found Teo, along with his assistant, to be very innovative and attentive to my business needs. Teo is recommended for his ability to make one feel comfortable in conducting business, along with his creative energy and attention to detail. - January 15, 2011, AH'NAY was Teo's client |
|
Featured [Leadership] Articles:
|
 |