Page 19 - Fearless Leadership

6 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

People, strategy, and operations come together in a simple, fast, and effec-
tive manner as everyone applies a shared methodology for working
together as committed partners.
It all sounds too good to be true. If fearless leadership is fast and easy
to achieve, you may be thinking, then why isn’t everyone using it? There
is a caveat: to transform your organization, you must have the courage to
examine your behavior and lead the way. If you want a recipe for how to
fix others, this is it: fix yourself first, and others will respond to your com-
mitment and follow suit.

THE NUMBER 1 LEADERSHIP QUESTION:
“WHAT IS HOLDING US BACK?”

“Nothing is changing fast enough,” said a frustrated CEO. “We have good
people, good values, and a strong strategy, but change around here is
painfully slow or just doesn’t happen.”
Frustrated with the slow pace of change, executives ask, “What is hold-
ing us back?” Employees, discouraged with countless ineffective change
efforts, ask, “Why is this time any different?” People are not aligned, ini-
tiatives are derailed, and the organization does not transform.
The traditional formula for organizational success—good people, good
values, and good strategy—is woefully inadequate to meet today’s chal-
lenges. Although the traditional formula remains a necessary foundation
for success, leaders who play a big-stakes game know they need to go
beyond the formula. They understand that a complex and changing
environment requires a new way of thinking and behaving. They antici-
pate challenges, continually envision what is needed, and ask the tough
questions:

• “What is holding us back?”
• “What is preventing us from achieving a new level of performance?”
• “What is stopping our organization from moving faster, being
more innovative, agile, and effective?”
• “What is stopping us from engaging our people to work more
effectively together?”
• “What is blocking us from taking charge of our future and
accomplishing what others believe is impossible?”