It’s one of the most frequent questions I get in my work – and it usually comes from a leader after a workshop or in a discrete reply to a blog post.
The question is, “I have an underperforming function that’s core to my new mission. How do I accomplish a change for the better?”
The point at which they typically call me is after they’ve installed a high-potential new leader to take the group to the needed performance level (spoiler alert: it’s not going well).
What’s Going On?
Functional groups in mature firms become a tightly enmeshed system of people, processes, and technical tools that build themselves to a level of performance over a long period of time. These performance levels are typically established historically, and many times they’ve been in place for years. When a significant change comes along – say rapid digital transformation driven by COVID – the team suddenly has to rise to new levels.
The obvious first step is to install new leadership that can help the group step up to the needed new levels of performance, right?
Well in most cases, I would suggest that while it’s perhaps necessary – it’s not sufficient.
What Happens
The new leader, who is typically from another part of the firm (or from a different firm entirely), rolls up their sleeves and gets to work on what is needed to meet the new expectations. Planning sessions are held, project plans are worked out and review sessions are scheduled.
Everything appears to be moving forward, but at around the 90-180 day mark, our new leader is clearly getting gassed. The workload is overwhelming and the team just doesn’t seem to be stepping up to assist.
The Underlying Bit That Needs to be Worked
Humans are pattern-making machines. We wake up at the same time, drive the same routes and fix our coffee the same way daily. We like our work like that as well – patterns and straightforward decisions.
When these patterns set in deeply, two things happen in a group – and they happen nearly invisibly and with no malice intended. The first is that decision-making gradually becomes upwardly delegated. This is due to the need not to “disturb” the system and keeps that messy conflict stuff at bay. Secondly, the team is self-limiting and protective. When something new is introduced, the group makes it into something that is easily accommodated by the current relational system. This means status quo, decisions deferred and outcomes owned only by the leader.
When you simply put a new leader in place, a massive gap is created between stable patterns and new expectations. This gap results in turbulence and chaos as the existing team tries to re-establish its previous structure – while at the same time, the new leader pushes them to meet the new expectations.
The Insight
What many miss is that there are three jobs here, and yet many times the sponsor perceives only one: that the team needs to lead more effectively. To be truly successful, this task requires all three of the following leadership skills/actions:
- The first job is to do the diagnostic work of what is required of this group to successfully serve the new need in the firm. This includes a system-level look, and also a group and individual level assessment to know where they are coming from and how big a lift they’ll need to meet the new benchmarks.
- The second job is organizational change and deployment. The new leader needs to have concrete plans for the team and each member that not only sets the new requirements, but also addresses a development or redeployment path. By doing this work well, the chaos that comes from simply imposing new expectations without a bridge is avoided.
- Finally, the third job is to establish a fresh operating high-performance team. This means doing the work with the peer organizations to understand what is needed by your team, as well as what your team needs to provide for the rest of the firm.
By breaking this down, you’ve created a path of success for the leader and the team (and by extension your business).
How to Get to Work on This
These changes look deceptively simple at the outset, but quickly get challenging.
As a leader, you need to move the team from opacity to become clear, singular, and decisive – which is quite a lift.
If you are a senior leader or a team leader who has been asked to take a challenge like this on, I’d be happy to help. Please feel free to reach out at 847-651-1014 or put a call on the calendar with this link.
