“Transformation” seems to be a common theme among businesses these days and given the economic climate, increased global competition, price pressures, and demand for revenue, it’s no wonder.
I believe that today, true transformation is about leveraging more efficient equipment and hardware, employing new application technologies, AI databases, and streamlining processes to bring businesses, products, and services into the modern era.
Unfortunately, companies often pursue transformation through headcount reductions, expense cutting, and reshuffling the organizational chart, erroneously believing these actions will bring desired transformation, losing sight of the fact that it’s their people that enable and execute transformational change.
It’s not that belt-tightening and reorganizing are frivolous efforts. What I am saying is that such measures are a reaction to the past, too often without a clear vision of the future in mind. They’re more about survival tactics than transformational initiative… and the truth is that you know it, I know it and our employees know it.
As a result, employees gather around the proverbial water cooler exchanging rumors, fearful that they’re part of the next downsizing. Productivity drops noticeably as people are waiting for the “dust to clear.”
The present that you experience today was built yesterday. You are building the future now. Transformation is not about cutbacks, reorgs, or incremental change. Transformation requires compelling vision, new attitudes, and values-based behaviors. It requires organizational alignment and accountability to that vision and to those attitudes and behaviors.
People, not market circumstances or the economy, determine your success—transformation requires enlisting, engaging, and motivating your people to carry your organization into a transformed state. People want and need to be led. They crave a compelling vision; they want to work in a high-trust, values-based culture. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Transformation is an evolutionary action that truly changes how you may be producing, servicing, and/or delivering for clients. To be successful it requires a clearly articulated picture of the preferred future for the team – including transparency regarding the end state – and expectations to get there. This requires leaders who positively model trust-building behaviors and who will articulate well-planned communications that engage every employee in the journey.
If you’re “into’ transformation you may want to ask:
Is your executive team unified, aligned, and committed to a compelling mission, a transformational vision, and the values-based behaviors required to “get you there”?
Do your leaders live out behaviors that create trust with employees?
Are you committed to “future-building” by developing values-based leaders in your organization?
Transformation is about the future. The future arrives quickly. Act now.
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