What people really want

culture leadership Oct 01, 2020

Remarkably, whenever and wherever I make the workshop exercise to let people describe the ideal future of the company they are working for, I get statements such as innovative, dynamic, cool, leading, etc. When I ask how they would describe the current state of their organization, phrases come up such as reliable, high quality, secure, and predictable. 

Again, these results are more or less consistent over all businesses I assess:

Many people say they work in a safe, yet “boring” environment. What they dream of instead looks different: dynamic, fresh, and cool. 

And now comes the bummer: even if the leadership team sees this articulated desire of their people, there is hardly any action after these workshops (unless I stay as a business coach and help drive the change). 

Why is this? Why do so many smart leaders not create an organization in which people would engage at their full potential?

The key reason is uncertainty about the “how”. How to drive this change without risking the loss of business? 

Here are three important steps for you as a leader to create an organisation that people love to work for: 
  1. Beliefs. Ask yourself if your mindset tells you that fun and inspiration are not consistent to success. Believe me; many leaders have this exact mindset. Even if they see that people are demanding a more dynamic and innovative environment, deep inside, they believe this is a high risk to business success.
  2. Action. Ask some of your people to suggest specific actions towards the desired new environment. Then, listen and encourage them to try out some ideas. It is very important to nurture confidence to move forward, in particular in the beginning. In many organisations, people gave up on the idea that change is possible at all.
  3. Progress. Measure progress toward the desired organization and communicate even little successes. If people e.g. want a more “dynamic” organization, how would this materialise? How do we know and how can we report progress?

The described steps are part of my work with my clients. Click here to schedule a call.

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