Leaders often mistaken ‘Organizational Transformation’ as an additional task above their work. That’s where the essence of transformation slips between the cracks.
A consulting firm was pitching their ‘organizational transformation’ solution to the leadership team of a leading bank in the UAE. Post presentation, a question popped up: “How much of our time are we supposed to invest in this programme?”
Before the consultant could respond, the CEO answered, “100%.”
Leaders often mistaken ‘Organizational Transformation’ as an additional task above their work. That’s where the essence of transformation slips between the cracks. Organizational transformation is a way of life at work, it cannot be separated from the work.
Imagine a father advising his son to quit smoking while lighting a cigarette that’s exactly what happens when leaders drive a change initiative without altering their behaviours.
People often look up to their leaders, and when they see their leaders failing to transform and live by the principles they preach, it creates a vacuum. This gap results in lack of trust and the organizational transformation falls on its face.
Let’s look at different aspects of where the leadership transformation is at the core of organizational transformation.
The ‘guiding angel’ mindset.
The change initiative falls flat when leaders believe ‘they know it all’ and their role is to guide their team members on a transformation journey. On the contrary, before even communicating the change initiative to the people, the entire leadership team first need to buy-in to the concept, set priorities, reflect on their own behaviours, shift their own mindsets, commit to the new behaviour and start living the transformed life at work.
A leadership team & the organization cannot be detached in the transformation journey! Everyone is in it together. In fact the leaders are the role models who inspire people to transform, demonstrate critical behaviours and pave the way for the team. The journey becomes smooth when the entire leadership team is speaking the same language, over-communicating the change and continuously aligning the team.
When ‘experience’ clouds ‘learning’
Organizational Transformation is all about letting go of old beliefs and behaviours and accepting new ones. One of the challenges here is the strong belief system & working style of the leaders which they have acquired over years of experience.
Leaders often have many years of experience behind them. While this experience is invaluable, it also means that their judgment and belief systems are deeply ingrained. They practiced and applied their skills on a daily basis over the years to become stalwarts of their industry. It isn’t surprising that it can be difficult to let go of of the existing belief system to make way for the new.
A consultant was presenting a ‘New Culture Blueprint’ to one of the leading fintech firms in Dubai where a ‘Caring culture’ was recommended. The CFO expressed that this transformational approach is very fluffy and cannot be implemented in a fintech firm – “we must be cut-throat”, a direct reflection of his opinion based on his experience. This is where ‘experience’ overshadows ‘learning’. Consider an alternative approach – what if the CFO could have held on to his experience and beliefs, while adopting a learning mindset. The response would more likely have been one of genuine curiosity and could have sounded more like: How can we implement this culture when our industry is so cut-throat?’
This small difference in approach and response is where the game changes. When leaders show inquisitiveness to learn and adapt to the changes, the organizational transformation becomes seamless. It’s extremely powerful when leaders use their wealth of experience and acquire new skills in line with the transformation to produce results.
When leadership don’t prioritize the transformation
People don’t believe the transformation is real unless they see tangible changes and feel a sense of urgency. Most leaders are so busy fighting their daily business battles, the transformation takes a backseat.
A Bank in the UAE was undergoing a culture transformation. Consultants found that the major concern of senior managers was around the credibility of the transformation as they didn’t feel the urgency from their leadership team. The change initiative teams were lagging on their implementation deadline because the leaders were too busy to review it. Clearly, there was a gap in priorities.
When leaders don’t over-communicate, the organization feels a lack of urgency, which in turn raises questions on the transformation itself. Employees then perceive it as ‘just another initiative’.
It is critical for the leaders to over-communicate the priority of the desired transformation and consider the change initiatives as top priority to show their actions are aligned with their words. It is easier said than done, however everyone in the organization must go through the initial discomfort. And it should start from the leaders.
This sends a loud message to the organization, that the transformation is not an option, it’s the reality.
‘’The transformation will come from leadership’’ – W.Edwards Deming