Page 20 - Fearless Leadership

What It Means to Be a Fearless Leader 7

Here is the problem: How people behave and work together deter-
mines the success or failure of major change initiatives. Yet when lead-
ers answer the question, “What is holding us back?” most focus exclusively
on organizational change and fail to address the need for behavioral
change.
The majority of leaders do not recognize the significant role that behav-
ior plays in achieving the business results they want. The reality is that
competent individuals do not spontaneously come together as a high per-
formance team. A constructive and empowering work environment does
not suddenly appear because the organization has been restructured.
People do not routinely work effectively together because it is the right
thing to do. Leaders do not align just because the organization has an
aggressive strategy, clear vision, and strong values.
When people are emotionally disconnected from the organization and
its leaders, they behave in counterproductive ways. They work in silos,
fight for resources, and comply with directives but are uninspired.
Vision, mission, and values alone are insufficient for producing sus-
tainable behavioral change. What most organizations are missing is a uni-
form process for people to align, collaborate, and work together across
organizational boundaries. Without a standardized process, unproductive
behavioral norms evolve by default. New rules of engagement are
required to transform core values into an enduring behavioral framework
that unites people to deliver exceptional results.
Although productive behavior is learned, unproductive behavior is
automatic. People react instinctively to protect their interests, which
results in unhealthy competition, defending turf, and divisiveness.
You already have a behavioral norm in your organization, but you may
not be happy with the one you have. If you are experiencing recurring
problems, a lackluster environment, low employee engagement, lack of
leadership alignment, or ineffective and slow change, then the likelihood
is high that the issue is behavioral. In the example below, Karl, the CEO
of a global mining organization, failed to recognize a serious behavioral
problem—the animosity between business units that was undermining
the enterprise. Instead, he misdiagnosed the problem and fixated on orga-
nizational and structural change.