Page 133 - Fearless Leadership

120 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

decisively. When you change your direction, you change what is possible
for you and others.

Moving Toward Transforming and Emotionally
Engaging Others

Leaders are blissfully unaware that by approaching things backward they
disconnect people from their desired goal and purpose. This is based on
an erroneous view that all bases are covered when leaders focus solely on
their accountabilities and objectives. “I try to connect with people,” said
a CEO, “but they just don’t seem to like my humor.” “What makes you
think people want humor from you?” I asked, “Is that what your wife wants
when she wants to connect emotionally with you?” The CEO was momen-
tarily perplexed and then replied, “No, she wants me to listen to her and
include her in what’s going on for me.” “Then, you need to listen to oth-
ers and include people in what you are experiencing so they can connect
with you as a person, not a figurehead CEO.”
To transform a team or organization, people need to feel emotionally
connected to one another, the organization, and its leaders. They need a
larger context: a way to belong and be part of a winning team. Logic does
not deliver this, and more often than not, it pushes people over the edge
into resignation and disengagement.
At the heart of the dilemma is our confusion between changing an
organization versus transforming an organization. Change initiatives play
an important role in creating greater efficiency and effectiveness, but sel-
dom do they alter behavior and how people relate to one another and the
organization’s mission. When people are not emotionally engaged, their
behavior does not change in lasting ways.
The context for change must be radically overhauled if leaders want to
expand and accelerate what their organization can achieve. Resignation,
silos, victim and entitlement mentality, and complacency keep the play-
ing field small and engagement low. To attack the problem at its core, you
must provide people with a method of self-mastery based on the behav-
iors of 100% accountability and committed partnerships. The only way to
capture this high level of alignment and emotional connection is to trans-
form, not change, how leaders work together.