How to foster commitment – not just compliance \u2013 on your team<\/p>\n
The dynamic shifts at this time of the yearand it\u2019s often a great time to stop and reassess.\u00a0Where\u2019s our focus? What are our priorities?\u00a0How am I leading the team?<\/p>\n
Some leaders foster compliance: teams of people who work within well defined (yet often unspoken) boundaries. \u00a0They mind their own business.\u00a0They comply with organisational systems and processes.\u00a0It may be agreeable and well-intentioned – but the team is unlikely to meet its potential.<\/p>\n
Other leaders generate commitment \u2013 commitment to organisational values, initiatives, commitment to the people who work for them and commitment to getting results.<\/p>\n
Most organisations are run along compliance lines and the shift from fostering a compliance culture to fostering a commitment culture is difficult:\u00a0Here are some ideas that can help:<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Give team members the space to address the current reality \u2013 what\u2019s it like right now to be in this organisation\/on this team\/selling this service? \u00a0Future-focused initiatives like determining the values, coming up with big hairy audacious goals, a re-org, are compelling, exciting and full of possibility \u2013 but there can be a sense that they are not achievable. \u00a0On compliant teams, where there is no room for the \u201cyes, but\u201d doubts that need to be expressed, then there can be no real commitment.\u00a0Teams need to sit together and address the reality of what\u2019s happening right now \u2013 with activity, results, relationships, initiatives – without needing to sugar-coat or downplay.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The leader needs to listen with curiosity.\u00a0Feedback is all around.\u00a0Sometimes it comes with a \u2018here is feedback\u2019 label.\u00a0Sometimes it comes through silence, a miscommunication, a lost sale, an invitation that does not come, an open door that nobody walks through, a conversation with too much agreement.\u00a0When we start to notice the feedback that is all around us and we can get curious (not upset) about it \u2013 then we can start to gather really useful data (feedback) and go to work on it.\u00a0And, much as I hate these clich\u00e9s\u2026 feedback is the breakfast of champions.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The leader needs to create the space where team members can honour their own concerns, questions and \u201cyes, buts\u201d.\u00a0People nowadays are so frightened of being labelled \u2018negative\u2019 or \u2018resistant to change\u2019 that they have started to ignore the intelligence of their own bodies and intuitions \u2013 the hesitation, the gut feel, the discomfort, the confusion.\u00a0They are then running on \u201cwhat should be\u201d intelligence.\u00a0Yes, we should be more productive, energetic, focused, empathetic, tough, stop smoking, eat more healthily …\u00a0But there is a reason why we are not.\u00a0When we cannot acknowledge our concerns, then we cannot be fully honest.\u00a0And when we can\u2019t be honest, we can\u2019t fully engage.\u00a0If a team is strong enough and can hear what team members say, then it is even possible to \u2018disagree and commit\u2019 \u2013 but when we have not been heard, we cannot commit.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stay the pace.\u00a0A team that has been compliant for years will not become committed overnight.\u00a0Leaders who commit to changing their style can become frustrated when they don\u2019t get the results they want \u2013 the discomfort of silence (or argument) at meetings, the frustration of team members not taking advantage of the great opportunity that is being offered…\u00a0It\u2019s easy to go back to old ways \u2013 now armed with a great excuse \u201cthey prefer when I tell them what to do\u201d.\u00a0You\u2019re turning an ocean liner around.\u00a0It takes time.\u00a0We talk too much about creating vision \u2013 we need to talk more about the challenge of sticking with it.<\/p>\n
Does this sound negative?\u00a0It\u2019s not meant to.\u00a0Being with a team as they have the experience of being able to unleash all of the real, everyday, ordinary challenges, concerns, difficulties and worries that they have been holding onto is incredibly positive.\u00a0Mindsets are shifted, dots are joined, truth is spoken.\u00a0The focus automatically turns to activity, goals, relationships, behaviour, innovations, risks.\u00a0There is a sense of momentum and excitement because the future is being built on solid foundations – and that breeds real commitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"