The leader of a small business decides that the time is right to grow and grow aggressively. The problem is the business has been flat for a number of years and many of the management team are long term employees who sort of seem comfortable with the pace at which the business is operating and not highly motivated to self-raise their expectation and performance.
What is the leader to do?
My observation is this can be a serious problem if a growth strategy is defined but nobody is ready to step up, so to speak.
My gut tells me that the thing the leader needs to do is explain why they personally want to grow now and what is in it for them individually. Then they must help the other members of the management team identify what their personal return would be if such growth happens.
Once that return is identified and bought into it is time to define what individual behaviors and management improvements will be required of each individual.
If someone can't see the benefits of the vision personally and/or cannot personally commit to managerial self-improvement then they need to find a new bus, using the Good to Great book phrase.
Love to hear your thoughts?
Your approach sounds very effective. It's all about developing personal interest and identifying specific behavior to change.
ReplyDeleteThe leader could also explain why now and why this particular course.
I also think that encouraging a culture that accepts failure as a learning opportunity is important to help the managers begin to take risk.
And yes, it is crucial to offer people an honorable chance to opt out.
Thanks for your comments Becky! I always try to do what I think is right for all involved.
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