I had a great discussion with a group of leaders today, about how to unleash the hidden potential within their organization.\u00a0 Here’s the basic idea.<\/p>\n
Right now a lot of people are scared for their jobs.\u00a0 As a result, I’ve observed that many are “hunkering down” in fear.\u00a0 They’re not taking risks, they’re not being more creative, they’re just trying to work harder and wait out the storm.<\/p>\n
But what we need in tough times is more creativity, not less.\u00a0 This is where the role of leaders is critical:\u00a0 They must support people in making changes.\u00a0 And change is always risky.<\/p>\n
But we don’t want everybody running off in random directions changing things at whim.\u00a0 The net result of that is chaos.\u00a0 Instead, a leader will set a narrow, powerful, and emotionally compelling strategic direction within which people are encouraged to innovate.<\/p>\n
Why a narrow direction?\u00a0 Because you want to increase the intensity of the result.\u00a0 The narrower it is, the less energy you’ll waste on less-aligned alternatives.<\/p>\n
Why powerful?\u00a0 Because people need to see a reason to change.\u00a0 Increasing a metric by 10% isn’t that powerful.\u00a0 Saving the company, or becoming the industry leader, is incredibly powerful.<\/p>\n
Why emotionally compelling?\u00a0 Because we have to help our people to get over the hurdles which result from any change.\u00a0 The potential future has to look SO much better than the current situation that it’s worth investing your personal energy and taking a risk.<\/p>\n
THAT’s the way that the organization’s potential is unleashed:\u00a0 By creating the context in which each individual wants to contribute their best, rather than just hunkering down and trying to be safe.<\/p>\n
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