Leading Change | Changing Self to Change Team Behaviour
Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene. – Arthur Christopher Benson
Image via Wikipedia
How’s the job going? Is it what you expected? Are you achieving the things you set out to do? Perhaps you’re looking for a change of scenery?
Sometimes we find ourselves in a job that just doesn’t feel right. We have the right talents and experience for the role yet we’re not making inroads. We have a choice: leave for something new or stay and deal with the situation.
When managing change we must remember that we can’t make someone change. Someone has to want to change. And how often do we apply this principle to ourselves? Perhaps the reason we aren’t having the successes we had hoped is because we need to first change our behaviour.
You see, changing our behaviour will inevitably affect the behaviour of people around us. This harks back to cybernetics theory. That is, when one element within a system changes, the whole system changes.
Let me illustrate. There was a time when I took on a new team after a long period on uncertainty and change. Morale was at an all time low and productivity far from great. Whenever I entered the office an almost palpable air of negativity hit me. Things couldn’t get much worse!
I soon came to realise that everyone was feeding on each other’s negativity. People would reject new ideas automatically and viewed any change with distrust. Clearly it would be incredibly hard to work with the team. I had to do something fast!
I had to look at my attitude and behaviour. I had to understand if I was contributing to the team’s behaviour in some way. Were my attitudes and actions having the right impact on the team? I had to ask myself some searching questions:
- Did I arrive at work with a positive attitude?
- Did I engage in office politics?
- Did I criticise my peers or seniors in front of team members?
- Did I complain about work-related issues with the team?
- Was I a good role model?
I soon realised I was falling short. I had to change. If I didn’t change there was no way the team would. From then on I was positive about change and enthusiastic about what the team could achieve. Here are five things I did that ultimately made the team a big success; a team I’m proud of:
Being Positive is Infectious
- I focused on the present; what we needed to do to solve existing problems. Later, it was possible to look to the future and create a shared vision. But not in those early days.
- Tackling negativity head-on by challenging negative thinking, comments and behaviours.
- Giving the team opportunity to air their concerns. But also to discuss ways of tackling them and moving on.
- Engaging the team in decisions and in the changes that needed to happen.
- Being positive. Thinking positive.
Image: Wikipedia, The Welsh Poppy/ Flickr.
Related articles
- Kotter’s 8 Steps of Change, part 1 (martinwebster.eu)
- Leadership: To be Loved and Respected (colleensharen.wordpress.com)
