The Eggers Leader's Edge
At the start of every organization (org.) design project, if I am lucky, I am asked, ‘who really should be involved in this’. If I am unlucky, there is an assumption that building the design will only involve one or two senior leaders. Unlucky in this case, usually makes for a very long project and a less than optimal design.
So when I am asked who should be involved, my answer is, [Read more...]
Organization Redesign. To do or not to do (and when)? That is the question.
This question does not always have an obvious answer. Organization redesign, by definition can be quite disruptive, even when handled as smoothly as possible, and even with the best of intentions. There is always a risk t
hat the new structure will bring with it some unanticipated challenges. A good process and a great consultant can help you minimize those and the greater risk is often in continuing to operate in a structure that has outlived it’s useful live. As fast as change hits us in today’s market, it pays to create an ambidextrous culture (nimble and adaptable) to allow the organization to actively respond to rapid change. Here are some of events that should have you cashing in on that ambidexterity and calling for a redesign: [Read more...]
One of my smaller clients recently asked me if they should consider an automated performance management system. You know the type – for a huge investment, employees can enter their objectives, managers approve them, and then self appraisals and manager performance appraisals are done right in the system. The same system can be used to manage talent and potential ratings, development plans and all the workflow and approvals that come with that. The good ones even allow leaders to plot their teams on a grid of some kind and compare them with one another. Some even include a module used to manage merit and incentive compensation. The lure is losing all those manual forms…all for a mere million or so.
Companies who sell these sing the benefits of having all that data in one place, such as being able to identify employees with certain skills who might be ready for a promotion when you’re trying to fill a job. That can be a huge benefit when neither the recruiter nor the hiring manager knows the very qualified person in another division. It also comes in handy when building a succession plan across diverse business units. This is very justifiable for a large company and reducing paper is a very green response.
My answer to the client who asked about it, however, is strongly relevant for both large and small companies. [Read more...]
The need to have people on the same page is huge when implementing a major change. This is particularly true when the change involves thinking differently to solve a problem that can’t be solved by doing things better, faster or cheaper (an adaptive challenge). Enabling leaders to get people aligned is a major piece of my business – that’s because it is always necessary, but is seldom easy. It also tends to be an area where an objective outside point of view can really help. The reason for that is the politics.
Often taboo to talk about, the hidden (and sometimes not so hidden) agendas competing just under the surface in large organizations can sink a change initiative…or catapult it to raging success. To get to the latter, you need to think politically. Easy to say…but what does that look like in a world where anything close to being, ‘political’ is the antithesis of effective? [Read more...]
Are your people asking for a career path? Many companies are trying to build career paths because people are crying for them. It’s usually in response to an engagement survey and done with a fair amount of urgency because employees are upset that 
they don’t have a proverbial career path. Some have spent millions of dollars building career paths for every department or buying a system to help people determine their career path. The other day I even previewed a software package that was essentially a database of different career paths. You could enter your title and the system would give you a list of potential jobs that people with your title had taken as their next step. Better yet, you could enter the job title of your dreams and it would give you a roadmap with options for how to get there from the job you’re in today. It was truly amazing! I have a hypothesis though. I believe that when people are crying out for career paths, what they really want is three very simple things – very little of which requires anymore than a great dialog with their manager. Essentially, they want to: [Read more...]
It’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t had the wind knocked out of
them by it: the ‘ole reengineering, right sizing, restructuring, downsizing, reorganization, transformation, etc. I could hold a contest for the best name for it, but HR/OD folks know it as organization(org.) restructuring. In itself, there’s nothing wrong with it. Organizations outlive their structure when the business strategy changes and the structure doesn’t support the new strategy, creating the need for a change. Problems that arise usually stem from how the new structure is determined and implemented. Many companies I work with are still picking up the pieces of failed restructurings, some years later. Surprisingly, these have one thing in common, and I’m betting a lot can be learned from that. [Read more...]
I was recently approached by a friend doing an executive search for a Global Organization Development/Leadership Development role. He knows a lot about this field and has done a ton of recruiting, and he called to ask me what makes a candidate ‘global.’ What is the difference between a regular OD/LD person and a ‘global’ one and how do you recognize a ‘global’ one when you meet them? Besides the obvious, of course, what specifically would he be looking for? This was the second time this week the topic of global leadership vs. regular old leadership came up, so I wanted to share some thoughts.
There is no certification or set of qualifications that makes someone a ‘global’ leader. Presumably, having lead a global team or having lived in multiple countries would lead many to deem one person more global than another, but I think there are a few more things worth considering…and you don’t have to leave your country to get them. I would argue that you can be a great ‘global leader’ right where you are, wherever that is – even if a solid global role is a great indicator of success. [Read more...]
A few years ago, Harvard Professor, Chris Argyris did some interesting research. He met with hundreds of executives preparing for conversations that involved delivering tough messages. He asked what they planned to say and how they would say it. Then he observed and recorded the meetings. In every case, the executives did not say what they planned to, the messages were unclear, and yet, the executives thought they had been effective – until he replayed the recordings. This groundbreaking research resulted in a list of derailers that every human, regardless of culture, demographics or experience falls into when communicating under stress. Despite many attempts to disprove it, this study has been validated over 20,000 times. [Read more...]
Little good ever comes from being in the middle. It’s an awkward place to be. Yet many of us seem to spend an awful lot of time there. Some of us are even paid to be there. This should resonate if you’ve ever had a customer and a boss. Being in the middle often looks like this: you want to fix something or respond to a need (often for a client or customer), but you can’t because someone or something is stopping you. You’re stuck. Sometimes it’s a rule you can’t break. Sometimes it’s a boss you can’t reach, a customer who won’t respond, a boss who won’t approve what you need, or another department with a different agenda. Often in the moment of deep ‘middleness’, you face a sinking feeling that no one is happy with you and there’s little you can do about it. Some days it feels like you just can’t do enough or please everyone. The middle is a powerless place, a non-productive limbo where nothing happens. You need to get out – and fast – if you ever want to accomplish anything. To find a way out, let’s talk about how one get’s there in the first place. Then, we’ll start the speed climb out. [Read more...]
As I help leaders find success in the face of more and more situations they are often unprepared for (reference in my last post), there is frequently a mounting frustration with people who just, ‘don’t get it.’ These seemingly clueless ones range from direct reports, to leadership, to customers and peers. They are all over the place. Interestingly, the common denominator is the leader…in almost every case. The funny thing about that is that by definition, if people aren’t following, the leader isn’t leading. That could lead to a whole exercise involving a mirror, but before we go there, remember that for the most part, the situations leaders (at all levels) face in today’s business environment are situations that nothing in their past has prepared them for. Hence, the need to think differently about making people ‘get it.’
For years, people were paid to get it. If the boss said it, what’s to ‘get’? You just did it. That may have worked in a culture where everyone came from basically the same background and culture, had the same education and wanted the same things. It may have worked when everyone at work wanted the company to be successful, knew they would be there for a long time and was willing to ‘do what it takes’ or ‘take one for the team.’ I probably don’t have to tell you that those days are gone. Thinking differently about leadership involves learning to build alignment between very diverse stakeholders. That is a big part of the leaders’ new work in this economy and there’s a big difference required in how one leads to do that effectively.
First, creating alignment needs to be a priority. In order to do that, leaders need to be very clear on [Read more...]
Get it right the first time. You can’t afford not to. That’s what enabling large scale organizational change is all about. The problem is that ‘change management’ like one of those guys on the side of the road with a grocery cart. It carries an awful lot of baggage that smells funny and most people don’t want go near it (even when they feel a tug in that direction). Particularly, when there’s real work to be done. Right? I know. I’ve been there.
Here’s the problem. In 20 years in business, I have never seen a project that doesn’t drive some kind of change. Never. If you’re doing a project, by definition, you are seeking to change something. Otherwise, why do it? By definition, projects lead to change. Sorry to break the news, but that’s the secret no one wants to talk about…if you’re leading or working on a project, you need to know something about enabling change.
The minute you say the words, ‘change management,’ though, it brings up nightmares of hours of work that doesn’t seem to add value, is wrought with soft, fuzzy feeling stuff and almost no one can define what it is. So a lot of people quickly tune out, turn the page, or leave the meeting hoping for the best, that it will go away, or at the least, someone else will deal with it.
Well folks, stand up tall and stick your face in the wind, because in a few short minutes, change management will no longer be a mystery.
[Read more...]
As I talk to clients, there are a couple really prevalent issues that are holding corporations back in today’s economy. These are issues that will require people to think differently to solve them. For years, we’ve tried to do things better, faster and cheaper. And while that is still critical, it has become the ticket to entry in today’s market. It is simply no longer enough to pull companies ahead. You’ve got to think in a very different way to build successful organization. In organization development lingo, these challenges are call adaptive, as opposed to technical, meaning that leaders at all levels will have to change their thinking, rather than reengineer or streamline what already exists.
The issues I’m hearing about are the need to do more with less (rampant in business today) and the need to be more effective at managing a global, multicultural, or at the very least, a diverse team. For the most part, these are things people are limping along with, but not doing much about. I contend that they demand action before they cause leaders to self-implode or burn out.
Believe it or not, these issues can be addressed in very similar ways. Both of them have to do with [Read more...]
Last week we talked about why Change Models Don’t Drive Change and left off with the two things you absolutely have to get right to ensure that a large scale organization change is implemented effectively. Those precious two things are Leadership alignment and tools. Today we’ll expand on what it takes to get them right.
Leadership alignment has likely been the most neglected piece of change management in every major change I’ve worked with. In short, your leadership team, to the lowest levels, must be in laser-like alignment around what needs to happen and what their role is in making it happen. They must be crystal clear on the business case, be able to articulate it and link all communications to it. They must also be able to anticipate and understand what transitions all stakeholders will go through on the way from current to future state and be able to support them through those transitions. The absolute only way sustainable change works is if those transitions are effectively managed and supported. This is the role of leadership and it only works if they are aligned. This is a big topic and I’ll submit to you that it is also the most difficult because [Read more...]
When I talk to prospective clients, I get a lot of questions around what change model I recommend. That’s an interesting question because after 20 years of driving and leading large scale strategic organizational change, what I’ve really learned is that it doesn’t matter. I’ll admit that during those 20 years, I’ve gone round and round on this. In an attempt to make change work and leverage the latest thinking, I’ve espoused a lot of them. I went through the ADKAR phase, the Bridges phase, the Kotter phase (and by the way, that’s not a model, it’s a checklist), and even the internally developed phase (at two companies that had to reinvent the wheel because they wanted their own)…and each and every time, I swore we had found the latest and greatest road to change Mecca. But when I finally decided I had enough expertise and wisdom to share, started my own firm, and set out to build an approach to change management that I could sell, I had to come face to face with the truth. The ‘no one’s listening, no BS, dark bedroom kind of truth’. And the truth is that it just doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t. A change model is a change model is a change model. Pick one. With possibly one exception, all of them [Read more...]
When I think of what it means to grow and develop talent outside of a formal process, it’s really about improving your ability to drive better performance through others. That starts with understanding each person’s strengths and development needs, how those can be leveraged to meet the goals of the team, and having candid conversations that promote learning for both parties. That sounds pretty benign, but I don’t know many leaders who really sit down and plan out the work of their team plotted against everyone’s strengths. There’s a lot of focus on changing people’s development needs, but I’ve seen, there’s precious little focus on leveraging strengths.
I had a team working for me a few years back with two very different employees. One was a PhD…a real expert in his field. He could design and build really effective programs like nobody’s business, but was new to the company and really struggled to get leadership aligned and execute what he had built. The other knew absolutely nothing about leadership development, but if you told her what to do, she’d figure out how to get it done right or die trying. I realized early on that I could spend countless hours trying to turn him into an executer and her into an expert [Read more...]
