How can leaders can have an impact in a business environment that is changing faster than ever.
The conclusion? It’s simple, really: The role of a leader is to simplify. Knowledge work is all about how we use one another’s time and attention.
Good leaders can affect how we think, what we decide, and, ultimately, what we create.
Why is it so difficult to keep organizations focused and effective?
You have to start with the assumption that most people in most organizations want to do the right thing. But in a world of infinite choices, people are struggling to figure out what the right thing is. If you look closely at how people make decisions a clear pattern emerges. No matter what the new strategy, initiative, or change program is, people have the same questions: How is this change relevant to what I do? What, specifically, should I do? How will I be measured, and what consequences will I face? What tools and support are available? What’s in it for me?
The leader’s job is to help people answer those questions. After all, if people can’t answer those questions on their own, then the grapevine will provide the answers – and those answers won’t always be right.
Why aren’t todays leaders better at leading?
Leaders pretend that the challenges of leadership are rational and tactical. Instead the challenges of leadership are emotional and conversational. Many leaders assume they can tell their managers , and the organization will move in the right direction. But the most critical factor in the success or failure of any plan is whether conversations with the leader have some impact on what people do. It’s during those conversations that people decide how to apply their time and attention.
There’s another critical problem. Plans developed by CEO’s are complicated, organized and communicated down the chain of command. But, workers only listen for meaning and purpose.
