Embracing the Winds of Change: A Leader's Guide
Navigating the Leadership Landscape
Leadership is akin to a journey, where tried and true strategies are our guiding stars. Our experiences shape our insights into what works and what doesn’t, laying the foundation of our leadership style. However, on this voyage, we often come across uncharted waters in the form of new suggestions from our leaders or our teams.
Such resistance might originate from within us, rooted in our past experiences, or from the team we lead, especially when tasked with driving change in an organization. But the question is, how do we successfully navigate these turbulent waters and steer our ship in the direction of progress?
Rising through the Ranks: Managing Junior and Senior Talent
As my career has ascended, I witnessed a notable evolution in the caliber of team members accompanying me. Young, budding engineers, while requiring assistance in technical aspects, were malleable and open to novel suggestions.
However, experienced lead and principal engineers brought their unique challenges. Being seasoned leaders themselves, they have honed their careers meticulously and often had strong convictions about methodologies the team should be using. Such seasoned professionals might seem resistant to change, but their opinions often come from a place of experience and thus deserve due respect. The real conundrum arises when the winds of change meet the immovable force of these seasoned engineers' conviction. Any good leader understands that going it alone won’t get you very far.
Time versus Change: Balancing Act of a Leader
Understanding the concerns surrounding change is essential. Yet, we often find ourselves in a race against time where each ticking moment counts, leaving us with little room to address every concern. It's like standing at the crossroads of leadership, contemplating the best path forward. We can’t ignore the concerns the team might have but we also may not be able to ensure everyone is happy before we move forward.
The Power of 'Experimentation': Sparking Flexibility
Interestingly, I've observed people show increased flexibility when proposed changes are labeled as 'experiments'. They are more open to test new waters, given they aren't making a long-term commitment to an unfamiliar change.
To foster this culture of flexibility, I often encourage my teams to view our tasks as experiments. In return, I assure them we won't persist with methods proving ineffective for our objectives.
Borrowing from Agile: The Retrospective Angle
Agile methodologies offer a useful tool called 'retrospectives'. After each sprint, we analyze what worked and what didn't, and identify areas of improvement which enable us to improve team efficiency and velocity in future sprints. This approach has been a valuable asset in managing change.
At the start of our 'experiment', I ask my team to commit to the change for a specific period (usually 2-4 weeks). At the end of this experimental phase, we hold a retrospective to gauge not only the team's feelings about the change but evaluate whether we've accomplished our initial objectives. While occasionally we decide to abandon the experiment, most often, this strategy helps in breaking down the resistance to change.
The Genesis of the 'Experimentation' Approach: A Lesson in Humility
While I wish I could claim credit for this approach, the truth is, it was born out of my resistance to change. Years ago, an architect in my team suggested treating a proposed change as an experiment. Acknowledging that I am not always the smartest person in the room, I embraced the idea and it's been a game-changer ever since.
In leadership, as in life, we're always learning and growing. It's through experimentation, humility, and perseverance that we can pave the way for positive change, turning resistance into receptiveness.
Tips for getting your team to adopt change
Cultivate a culture of open and honest feedback on your teams. This will help them feel comfortable experimenting and expressing the outcomes of this experimentation.
Be willing to be wrong. When the team sees that you are equally committed to the feedback that your idea may not have been the best, they will be more willing to adopt a perspective that they could be too.
Take the time to understand the initial barrier but as the team to commit to moving forward via ‘experiments’. You may have outliers who are still the voice of dissent and that’s ok. The team commits to the experiment regardless.
Make the adjustments. Ultimately what the team ends up adopting may look a little different than you had initially planned but chances are what is implemented longer term will be better for the feedback and adjustments that are made along the way.
Head over to www.insightrising.io for more information about how I can help you develop new strategies to up-level your leadership toolbox.