CEO, President, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director and Lord of Life leading during change is never easy. You are failing to lead your people in the midst of the most exciting time in your career. A time when your company is growing rapidly, increasing sales, industry is changing and your income is through the roof. You have done an excellent job of casting a vision for all the good that this scaling does and you have done a poor job of connecting with your leaders, your people, your human capital all the while your financial capital is skyrocketing.
Here are 3 Suggestions During This Time Of Change:
1) Invest: The word invest means to put something in expecting a return. In this case, your human capital is where a portion of your investment should be focused. I would consider conversations with your people about the impact of the change. I would talk to them about how you envision them contributing during the transition and in the next season. Time is the real investment here and time with your people will pay huge dividends and send your internal DOW up 300 points.
Consider one of my favorite quotes on the subject of investing in your people:
Susan Scott would say “People are hungry to connect, to be seen and known as the unique individuals they are.”
2) Values: Organizations without values is like eating a bowl of chili without seasoning or watching a movie with no sound. The content is there without the emotion or impact. Your personal values and your corporate values need to be refreshed during this time of change. It is not enough to plaster them to the back of people’s cubes. Values are living and need to be a part of corporate conversation. Consider, a meeting focused solely on the story of your values. Make the meeting rich and help people see how their values connect to the corporate values. A couple of great tools to get at values are Hogan Assessments or read Stan Slap’s book from my reading list.
I love this quote about values from Bury My Heart At Conference Room B:
Stan Slap: “Values are the personal standards that give you the most and that you care about the most. They’re the definition of what life looks like when you live it exactly the way you want to. Values are your very own source of safety, hope and renewal.”
3) Purpose: From the receptionist, to the janitor, to the service team, to the line producer and the leadership team each and every person needs to see directly how their role connects to the purpose of the organization. Help your people see their role in this powerful and easily overlooked way.
Another one from Conference Room B:
Stan Slap: “When humanity is denied by an anxious corporate organism, things get strange. No one acts naturally. No one feels safe or trusts anyone else. People detach to protect themselves. And no one emotionally commits.”
It is not too late for you to engage in this process and help your people really find their place during this exciting time for you and your organization. Your people need to be there too as the human capital connects directly with the financial capital. Remember, your employees are updating their resumes because they feel the uncertainty that all this excitement creates.
Leaders that I work with ask me to help them understand why they may be dissonant from their people during change. The reason is that you are pretty overloaded running the business or you assume your people are just as excited. The problem with that thinking is that it is very short term and not long term. Your people create the longevity and the story for your organization to thrive and be the advantage in the marketplace.
Many times leaders, just need a wake up call or someone to help them just process through their challenges. Sometimes leaders want a real structured approach to help them move forward. Either way, you have what it takes to really lead during this time of great change!