Page 229 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

THE LESSONS

to understand what the other side views as success and then try to bridge
that gap. To bridge the gap you have to be willing to compromise,” Shull
explained. “I’m not talking about compromising principle but compromising
in the best sense of the word. You do what it takes to have all parties feel
that they walked away from the situation made whole or at least feeling
successful in some way. I try to enter every negotiation with a clear under-
standing of the other person’s perspective so my team and I can provide
something of value to them. Turning a company around is really about
teamwork. What I do as an outsider coming in is just to fill the leadership
void and then work on building a solid team.”
Bill Cotter, George Heilmeier, Mike Ullman, and Tom Shull know
that a successful change agent must start by developing a clear under-
standing of the organization’s past and present and then lead his or her
team toward developing its own vision for the future. By bolstering the
team and ridding its path of the obstacles to progress, a leader makes it
possible for the team to move forward. As Abraham Maslow said, “You
will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” The
most successful change agent helps his or her team overcome the urge to
retreat into the comfort zone and encourages its members to put one foot
in front of the other in a steady and optimistic march toward a brighter
future.

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