Page 203 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role
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188 Just Promoted!
■ The Big Three Implementation Strategies
■ Learning from organization efforts that fail
■ Anticipating the politics of change
Leading change is like defying organizational gravity . . . and gravity has never
had a bad day. In this chapter we will look at the forces in organizations that
tend to resist change and maintain the status quo. The process of problem solv-
ing and strengthening the organization will unnerve some and excite others.
Some will fight, some will drop out, and others may try to ensure your failure.
But others (your biggest supporters and strongest contributors) will “own”
problems and share in the solutions. These winners will turn barriers and
problems into opportunities for improvement and renewal. These are the peo-
ple who will join you in a joint venture to achieve common goals.
A few people usually leave for other jobs after a new leader’s arrival. This
can be healthy for you and for them. You may lose experience and expertise,
but you might also benefit because turnover has a way of unclogging career
paths for your bright, ambitious people. It also allows you to recruit some new
blood. Promotions and new assignments become possible. Those who want
to advance have opportunities to grow. Even without promotions, turnover
lets you enrich and expand existing job responsibilities because assignments
and projects are left uncovered.
When people leave your organization, wish them well. The impression that
you leave on those who stay will be positive. Help them see the opportunities
ahead even though it is natural for individuals to feel the loss of their friends
and colleagues and their expertise. In short, turn voluntary turnover into new
opportunities for you and those working with you.
Just as some will choose to leave, some of those who remain will fight you.
They will test your skills, strength, and clarity of purpose.
When Dick took over a major department in a financial management com-
pany, he felt considerable hostility from about a quarter of the department.
Some felt that he wasn’t qualified because he had come from another func-
tional area. Moreover, his training was in another discipline. Yet he had proven
himself a very capable manager and project leader in previous assignments.