Traditions, Transitions, & Transformation

Traditions – Transitions – Transformation

By

William Sommers & Brandon Mergard

“If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less”

General Eric Shinseki

Many of the processes still in place today are grounded in past philosophies.  Frederick Taylor – Scientific Management, Theory X – Command and Control, and a reliance on the past as predictors of the future are examples.  There were good strategies when the world moved from agricultural to industrial ages.  The question: Are these practices going to lead us to adapt to an ever changing and faster paced world?  As the title of Marshall Goldsmith’s book indicates, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

Some traditions will still be applicable as we move forward into the information age, leading with more knowledge workers, and moving toward future outcomes. A possible future is ROX (Return on Experience), not only ROI.  Organizations that are moving forward are  building positive learning cultures. The organizational culture is, and will be, the attractor for the best talent.  Leadership in creating those cultures will be key.

• The need for leadership with a vision and the ability to attract knowledge workers to a desired future. Leaders with Courage, Humility, and Discipline are needed.  (Stakeholder Centered Coaching has 95% success rate for leaders)
• Continuous knowledge acquisition by reading, sharing information, and seeing new applications. New knowledge requires new processes to create new results. What do you see that no one else sees?
• Collaboration of diverse teams with multiple perspectives to mine the minds of those closest to the work. Simon Sinek wrote Leaders East Last. No leader can be successful alone. Most work requires collaboration, not necessarily hierarchy.
• Running experiments to see if a new approach works. If it does, tell everybody.  If it doesn’t, tell everybody. We learn from our colleagues.  (This is the reverse Las Vegas Effect)

Most of the business and educational literature suggests new thinking about how we get from where we are, to where we want to be, will be required.  A few that are in use by forward thinking leaders and organizations are:

• Systems thinking v. individuation of job requirements
• Polarity Partnerships v. only one solution, single issue thinking
• Leadership skills for an evolving future v. Management only
• Stakeholder Centered Coaching leadership v. Command-and-control leadership
• Navigating a VUCA world which is increasing v. Stable world based on the past

Some Thoughts on the Transition Period

Most people know ‘why’ they do a job that attracts their passion.  Even more know ‘what’ they want to see when they help accomplish the task.  The question is ‘how’ do we close the Why-What Gap.  That is the HOW.  The authors are committed to leadership behaviors of Stakeholder Centered Coaching developed by Marshall Goldsmith and Frank Wagner

Few of Our Basics for Leaders & Organizations during this transition

Leadership is social.  It is about relationships and defined by how others experience the leader.

• Coaching must focus on how the leader is perceived by others, not just how they feel.
• If no one around the leader notices a change, the change doesn’t count.
• Perception isreality in leadership—and reputation is the scoreboard.
• Leadership is about influence not always about decision-making.

Change must be visible to matter.  Unseen change is functionally equal to no change.

• Behavior change without stakeholder validation is meaningless.
• Leaders must follow up, ask for feedback, and make their growth observable.
• We don’t coach for insight—we coach for visibility, traction, and trust.
• “Leadership is action, not position” Donald McGannon

Coaching is a system—not a session. Transformation doesn’t happen during the coaching—it happens between sessions. It is what the leader does, not necessarily what they say.  Watch their feet not listen to their tongue

• The session is the setup and the foundation for a change in behavior.
• Without structure between sessions, momentum dies.
• Coaches must engineer systems that keep behavior change alive after they’re gone.
• As Deming pointed out, you are getting the results the system is designed to deliver.

Stakeholders are the mechanism for change.  Stakeholders aren’t observers. They are the system.  Words can be rumors.  People who are directly affected by leadership behavior are the best judge.

• Involve stakeholders early, consistently, and visibly.
• Their perception determines whether the leader is truly improving.
• Coaching that doesn’t engage stakeholders isn’t systemic—it’s anecdotal.
• Conductors of an orchestra do not play an instrument.

Coaches should create interdependence, not dependency.   If your coaching requires you to stay present for progress to continue, you’ve built a dependency—not a system. No leader we know can make all the decisions and be in every room all the time.  Noel Tichy, GE Crotonville projects said leaders have two goals.  Be the head learner and develop other leaders.

• The goal is not brilliant sessions—it’s sustainable behavior.
• The best coaching ends. The systems stay.
• Real coaching scales without the coach.
• Be the ripple in the pond. Influence travels after the pebble sinks to the river bottom.

Leadership development must align with business outcomes.  Coaching isn’t a perk—it’s a business growth strategy.

• Strong leadership drives trust, culture, and execution.
• A leader’s brand, reputation, and influence shape succession planning and promotability.
• Coaching should make leadership operational—not just insightful.
• Successful organizations plan for succession of leaders.

Our Basic ASSUMPTIONS

Leadership is defined externally, not internally.  The reality of a leader’s effectiveness lives in the experiences of others, not in the leader’s self-assessment.  Creating and sustaining a learning culture is assessed by those who are receiving the leadership

Measurable change is superior to subjective change.  Perception data is a more credible measure of growth than personal insight or emotional reflection.  ‘Cardiac assessment’ in my heart I know is WRONG. What do the stakeholders who are receiving your leadership say?

Systems are more reliable than willpower.  Sustainable behavior change requires a structure. Left to intention alone, change decays. Newton’s first law of motion applies here.  The organization will stay on its course or remain at rest unless it is acted on it by an external force.

Stakeholders are not neutral—they’re integral.  Real transformation depends on the feedback, reinforcement, and accountability of those impacted by the leader.  Without stakeholder feedback, how would the leader know if the behaviors and culture are having a positive effect?

Coaching should be practical, not philosophical.  If it doesn’t lead to real-world behavioral improvement, it’s not worth doing. Pfeffer and Sutton wrote The Knowing-Doing Gap.  When talk substitutes for action, not many changes.  Oliver Wendell Holmes said, and I paraphrase, ‘what you do speaks so loudly people can’t hear what you are saying.’

Visibility creates credibility.  Leaders build trust not by changing quietly, but by changing transparently.  Ray Dalio, in his book Principles says the leader must focus on two goals: radical transparency and radical open-mindedness. Leader presence signals accessibility and openness.

What actions are you willing to take?  When will you start?  How about today?

“If your job is waking up the dead,

GET UP, TODAY IS A WORKDAY

Angeles Arrien

References:

Edmondson, Amy. (2019). The Fearless Organization. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons

Goldsmith, M. (2007). What got you here won’t get you there.  New York: Hyperion

Goldsmith, Marshall, Lyons, Laurence, & McArthur, Sarah. (2012). Coaching for Leadership. (3rd ed.)  San Francisco:  Wiley & Sons

Johnson, Barry. (2020). And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or        Dilemma. Volume One.  Sacramento, CA:  Polarity Partnerships.

Kellerman, Gabriella Rosen & Seligman, Martin. (2023). Tomorrowmind. New York: Atria

Saphier, Jon. (1985).  Good Seeds Grow in Strong Cultures.  Alexandria, VA:  ASCD PublicationsSheridan, Richard. (2018). Chief Joy Officer.  New York: Portfolio/Penguin

Ward, Rosie & Robison, John. (2020). Rehumanizing the Workplace.  Denver, COConscious Capitalism Press.