Of the three pillars of transformation—people, process, and platform—the people pillar is the most important and challenging. The wisdom of Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, still rings true today.
Leadership must get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus before they can figure out where to drive the bus. Before you can launch your transformation, you must do the same. Sometimes, getting the wrong people off the bus is the biggest stumbling block for leadership.
This can happen for a variety of reasons. The person who must go is the keeper of valuable knowledge and/or skills. Or perhaps they are incredibly well-liked within the organization, have longevity with the organization, or are genuinely trying to catch up and keep up, but they simply can’t. But before I jump too far ahead, let’s first look at how to determine who needs to get off the bus.
- Resist assumptions. I have witnessed the skeptic evolve into the transformation’s biggest champion. I have also witnessed the most dedicated people unable to leap.
- Set clear goals and expectations. Until you’ve identified where the organization is going and what everyone’s role is in getting there, you can’t expect them to jump on board, let alone be successful.
- Provide the necessary resources, support, and time to help those willing and able to leap. Adapting to change is hard. It often involves increasing our knowledge base and developing new skills and behaviors, which takes time and support.
Now, it’s time to observe and assess who your early champions, skeptics, sideline spectators, and saboteurs are.
I have worked with early champions of the transformation who simply could not make the leap. I remember one such early champion who was a leader within the organization. She was great at her job and a genuinely nice person, but there were new skills required for the automation changes we were making in her department, and even with our support and her genuine effort, she just couldn’t master the skill. Over time and many conversations, we had to decide to help her move on. It’s incredibly hard to let good people go, but if they can’t meet the challenges of the work, you must make the tough decisions.
I’ve also encountered many saboteurs throughout my career. Saboteurs who pretend to be onboard the transformation can be especially challenging, and once identified, they can be just as challenging to terminate. This leads us to the steps that must be taken to follow through with the tough people’s decisions.
- Hold everyone accountable. As soon as the goals and expectations are set, a system of accountability must be established. This involves consistently communicating team and individual goals, progress, and deadlines.
- Document, Document, Document. You won’t have a leg to stand on without accurate documentation that details the goals and expectations, the support provided, and a record of regular progress (or lack thereof).
- Stay the Course. Executing some of these tough people decisions can take a long time, but you must persevere for the betterment of your people and your organization.
Here’s how I took those three steps to terminate a saboteur.
This individual was a co-leader of a key department. This co-leader went through the motions of agreeing with the goals and behaviors we established, but he failed to follow through. We had bi-weekly meetings to review his goals and expectations, during which I would share the feedback I was receiving. He would say “yes” to me again and say he understood. We would end each meeting with clear expectations of what needed to be different the next time we met.
This looped on repeat for a few months. I documented the date, time, and content of every meeting. Eventually, we reached the “you need to get on board or get out” conversation, after which he filed an ethics complaint.
The ethics investigation process was painful, but I knew he was toxic to the organization and stayed the course. I was cleared of wrongdoing, and we could move that individual out of the organization.
You, the leader, cannot transform an organization alone. You must have the right people on the bus, and making sure the right people are on the bus is a continual process. As you transform and long after, the organization will require new skills and behaviors from its people. Always, always invest in helping your existing people upgrade to the new skills and behaviors needed, but if they can’t or won’t upgrade, you must make the tough decisions.