Do you find yourself spending more time than ever keeping your business changes on track? Working longer and longer hours, stuck in meetings, buried in emails?
It’s highly likely to be down to one reason…
…people aren’t clear enough on the outcome and why it matters to them.
Eventually this lack of clarity and sense of a common purpose creates a cycle that traps both leaders and their teams in unproductive patterns of behaviour.
Here, I’ll explain why this happens and, more importantly, how you can break free from it.
The TELL vs SELL Illusion
One of the biggest challenges leaders face during times of change is the temptation to over specify the “how” without spending enough time on the “why” and “what”.
Telling rather than selling.
For those on the receiving end it’s essentially being told the answer before understanding why…it’s confusing and disempowering. Or for those parents among you it’s the equivalent of telling your teenage kids “because I said so”…and we know how that goes!!
One of the key reasons for this is the common belief is that getting straight into planning and doing things early will get you to quicker results…because it’s visible so people can see that “something is happening”. It can appear to be a quick fix to the lack of time and sense of urgency felt by many leaders in corporate settings…
…BUT…it’s a very costly illusion…and here’s why…
When people aren’t clear why a change is needed (from their point of view) and therefore what the outcome needs to be, they will typically either disengage completely or do the minimum. They will do what they feel they need to in order to keep people (you?) off their back.
This typically means that leaders fall into a more prescriptive and heavy handed approach in order to “encourage” compliance. Adding more governance and taking control of more and more detail to ensure things get done.
Here’s the catch: the more you micromanage, the less ownership people feel over their future. As a result, they become even more dis-engaged and defensive, which means even more control is needed. This vicious cycle leaves everyone frustrated. You become overworked, the team feels disempowered, and the change struggles to gain momentum.
It sounds crazy I know but I see this all the time. And yes I’ve also been guilty of it myself in the past…simply because it’s SO tempting when you’re feeling the pressure to move fast.
Breaking the Cycle
Imagine for a moment having everyone actively and energetically pushing forward with changes, figuring out solutions to problems, finding even better ways to achieve the outcomes. Ways that change the game, get you ahead of the competition and build reputations.
How much easier and more fun would that be to lead?
If you’ve ever used a resistance band you’ll notice that the more you push against it (stretch it) the harder it gets. What I’ve found is that people can be the same, the more you push the more they push back, except they tend to be VERY creative and subtle about how they push back, so it’s not always obvious.
A far easier way is to focus most of your attention on defining why you’re on a particular journey and what good looks like, acknowledging that there may be many paths to the outcome.
Give people more freedom to design their own path within well defined guard rails. Be clear about what is up for negotiation and what isn’t and why. Provide a framework within which your teams can operate, and then let them go to town on figuring out the ‘how’.
If you’ve got the motivation (i.e. what’s in it for them) right this then encourages far more creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. When people have the autonomy to shape their own roles and approaches, they naturally feel more engaged and motivated.
The more you shift your focus (and messaging) from the details to the overall purpose and direction, the more you’ll find that people naturally step up and take more ownership of the change. They tend to become more invested in the outcome, more engaged in the process, and crucially, more willing to go the extra mile.
As a consequence, you’ll find yourself with more time to focus on the things that really matter to you, rather than simply chasing issues round.
Are you stuck in a cycle of long hours and constant problems? Or maybe you’ve found some effective strategies to get the balance right between guiding the way clearly enough whilst giving people the freedom to innovate and make the change their own? Share your experience by leaving a comment below.
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