A Leader’s Darkside of Tradition; The 3 Keys to Evolving Your Organization, Team, and People Through Company Tradition!
Andre Young
Leadership & Work/Life Harmony Speaker, Author, Leadership Trainer, & Founder of You Evolving Now, LLC
One of the deadliest statements to a business, a Team, or a relationship is, “Because we’ve always done it this way”. One of the deadliest reactions to change, upgrades, and updates in business, a Team, or a relationship is, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. Lastly, one of the most deadly questions in business, a Team, or a relationship is, “Why do we have to do ____, no one else is doing it?”. The comment and question both assume what is being done great today will have the same impact and value tomorrow. The final deadly question described above is an assumptive comparison to others; in truth, we have no idea what’s happening behind closed professional or personal doors. There are positives in having tradition and doing things the way they’ve always been done, but ask Blockbuster Video if they wish they’d broken from tradition and explored a new way!
The truth is, I fell victim to this for years as an Employee and a Leader. It was easy to become frustrated and complain every time the company made an upgrade, a change, went in a new direction, and broke from tradition: from handwritten paperwork to computers, from one regulation to another, updating policies and procedures, I could go on but you get the point! However, nowadays as a Business Owner, I get it! I can’t tell you how many traditions I enjoyed and were beneficial at the time, but to take the next step, to stay in business, to stay competitive, to grow, and to best serve… updates, upgrades, and changes need to be made and traditions need to be evolved!
When I started my business, it wasn’t to fly around the world presenting Leadership Trainings, Speaking Engagements, and Book-Signings… It was simply a Men’s Social Club in my living room, where men could come, converse, answer life-questions, and return home better. I loved what it was, but to evolve, survive as a business, and later thrive as a business… tradition had to be broken!
It became weird having strangers in my home and small living room, so off we went to cafes, then conferences, then women wanted it… so a Women’s Division emerged, then a College Division on multiple college campuses, then Staff and Interns, then telling the devoted Community and College Members we were no longer serve in that way and entering the corporate space to save the business, evolve it, increase reach, and provide alternative growth opportunities through books and additional programs. If tradition stayed the same, the 14 Community Members and I may still be in my living room!
Nowadays, I still come up with ideas to evolve tradition, but I have help and amazing ideas from The Best Team in the world! At times, I still find myself thinking… BUT NOT SAYING… “we’ve always done it this way”, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”, etc. I don’t think these things because I don’t like their ideas… full disclosure, I think them because? I really like what we’re currently doing, how something already looks, the process is currently working, I don’t have the mental or emotional bandwidth at the moment, and I could go on, but again… you get the point!
Fortunately, there hasn’t been one break from tradition that hasn’t massively propelled my business externally and internally forward; from adding a CRM I despised, Lol, to updating the website, rehosting my online program, delegating a multitude of professional tasks and responsibilities to the right Team Members, and saying “Yes” to a few things that weren’t so successful but allowed significant professional learning lessons! So, how do we lead through the Darkside of Transition and evolve your People, Teams, and Organization?
The Writing on The Wall!
As a Leader, you must be able to read the writing on the wall! If you look back at some of the most pivotal decisions of your life, the writing on the wall was very clear… it was your emotions and the Bully Word “Should” that made the wall hard to read and made you dig your heels in the sand!
There were three memorable times in my professional life when the writing was evident and I allowed “Should” to beat me for far too long. I worked in a Mental Health Facility for fifteen years and around year twelve, the CEO retired. He was as down-to-earth a Leader as could be, would stop and talk with anyone, and you felt welcomed to be yourself and make a difference. The new CEO entered and was from the business-world with no Mental Health background and made a visit to our facility like the President of a country with security, an entourage, spoke to no one, and left! Needless to say, things changed quickly, I burnt-out even faster, but stayed way too long as I read the writing on the wall too slowly. By year fifteen, the company had read the writing on the wall to me, and it was time to go!
The second time was scrapping my community business to impact the world to become a Professional Speaker, Author, & leadership Trainer for the corporate space! The writing was on the wall, and it was the first time I had decided to take the leap professionally and EVOLVE!
The third time was quite current! As I’ve mentioned, I have The Best Team in the World… Nichole, my Executive Assistant… who needs a more significant title, as she has so many great ideas and does so many things. Andrea, my Automation Specialist and Warm Email-Marketing Guru. Alyse & Annie Lead the webpage. Aaron focused on Cold-Email Marketing. Last but not least, Ted & Sean, Lead accounting and book-keeping… WOW, this Team is exceptional! I was recently scrolling through social media, my website, Online Programs, and workbooks; I was blown away by how professional, incredible, and impactful it was if someone decides to go down the Andre Young /You Evolving Now rabbit hole! The writing was on the wall, loud and clear, to TRUST my team even more, delegate a few more ideas, and slowly add to the Team… and this leads us to Key #2!
Meet-Listen-Apply!
This is a Golden Rule of Leadership! As a Leader, your ideas are great… but if you only have your ideas floating in your head… you, the idea, and the outcome will be limited to how far it can go and the full impact it can have. Therefore, we must meet with our People; as a Team and 1-on-1!
In other blogs, books, and videos, I’ve shared how to successfully Lead team meetings and 1-on-1s. The point is to:
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Next, you have to listen! It sounds easy enough, but how often do Leaders interrupt, roll their eyes, sigh, pick up their phones while someone is talking, silence someone by saying “Let’s circle back”, and more? Listening requires intent to explore one real question… “What are they right about?”. Once we can understand, see, and value what someone is right about… we can work to apply their “Right”!
Lately, it’s time to “Apply”. Perhaps your idea or their idea made sense… sometimes the idea is so great, you apply it all! Other times, you may be more reluctant due to finances, other department’s involvement, organizational change or crisis, project bandwidth, etc… therefore, you apply some of the new idea. In any case… knowing something new, without applying that something new, can never lead to anything new. If necessary, there will always be an opportunity to scrap the idea later or maintain it as it produces internal or external impact, revenue, or saves time for you and others… Be Mindful!
Incentive Restructure!
When you or the organization decide to break away from tradition and disrupt the applecart with new ideas and a new direction, I’ve found it beneficial to first share your thoughts, the positives, your concerns, and listen to you’re A-Team for feedback: what are their thoughts, their concerns, what they’re right about, and anything you’d apply from their point-of-view? Your A-Team may be the few Right-Hand People within your organization, from the Board, Shareholders, Leaders, Direct Reports, or trusted Leaders and mentors outside the company. There will be times you mesh ideas to best solidify your plan and there may be times when you know in your gut what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and you see long-term benefit that no one else can… and that’s why you’re in the Top Spot and you’ll have to make the executive decision on your own and be willing to risk it all because you know it’s necessary!
After speaking with your A-Team and making your decision, it’s time to reveal it to the Organization as a whole, followed up by specific Team Meetings, and potentially meeting with individuals struggling to grasp the new way to follow-through. The point is, the train is leaving the station, and you want everyone on board. However, a difficult Leadership Truth is… everyone that starts with you may not get to end with you! The new way isn’t for everyone as it relates to the new knowledgebase they’ll need to learn to succeed in “The New Way”, where employees are in their professional career, potentially being married to the old way, or simply being unwilling to adapt and adjust!
Lastly, just because you’ve done all the above doesn’t mean your People are bought in, especially the ones you need to do the actual work… and remember, you’re asking them to continue doing their “old work” at a high level and AND “the new work” with no guarantee the new project will increased company revenue. Or, you’re asking them to scrap doing the work they enjoy and are good at to learn a new thing, a new way, with no guaranteed return on investment. Can you imagine if someone asked that of you right now?
Therefore, when “The New Work” won’t yield anything right away, it may be wise to restructure incentives by offering:
Remember, there are Positives and Concerns to everything! What’s great about your Professional Tradition? What’s the concern? What “Writing on The Wall” are you ignoring or reading? Who do you need to “Meet-Listen-Apply” with? When will you do it? What Incentive will you structure to give up good for GREAT or GREAT for ELITE?
“As a Leader, your ideas are great… but if you only have your ideas floating in your head… you, the idea, and the outcome will be limited to how far it can go and the full impact it can have … Be Mindful!”??? – Andre Young
Written by: Andre Young
Are you looking to impact your Organization, Leaders, Teams, and Employees with Leadership & Work/Life Harmony Trainings or a Speaker? Click www.youevolvingnow.com to connect, chat, and customize with Andre Young!