Page 107 - Fearless Leadership

94 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

Teams or business units often share a resigned point of view that is
unspoken but present in every conversation and decision. Team behavior
can become pessimistic and downtrodden, and leaders miss the fact that
the entire group is resigned. Once team members solidify their view and
are resigned that nothing will change, the game shrinks and problem
solving is reduced to the smaller framework. Resignation often shows
up in the comments that team members make privately to each other,
for example:

• “We can’t get this done fast enough.”
• “We aren’t going to pull this off.”
• “We don’t have enough support or resources to make
this work.”
• “We’ll never hit our numbers.”

When leaders or teams do not recognize that they are resigned, they
create the same behavior in others and resignation spreads. This is what
happened when leaders in a technology company became resigned dur-
ing companywide downsizing.

When Leaders Are Resigned, They Telegraph It
in Their Behavior, and People Lose Confidence

Maureen, the director of product development, and her operation
worked nonstop on new and promising consumer products. Although
things were not going well due to downturns in the market,
Maureen’s group was delivering results.

What Happened. Gunnar, Maureen’s boss, spoke to her group of
200 and delivered the following message: “The market is volatile, and
we’re cutting back in all areas. All funding of new products is frozen,
and we will downsize significantly in the next several months.”

The Impact. Gunnar’s talk was short, to the point, and had unin-
tended consequences. Although Maureen and her group were not
surprised by the “content” of the message, they were stunned by the
detached and cold manner in which it was delivered. They became
despondent and resigned, and innovation collapsed.