Collaboration Can Ensure You Never Move Forward

Well, there is a way to move your organization forward and there is a way NOT to move your organization forward …. it’s called COLLABORATION.

Why would collaboration be a blocker?  Because without a structured process, it’s a great way to invite objections and ensure that all voices, even the resistors get their way, not the way of the organization, but their way.

 Why not maintain the status quo anyway?  We understand that with all the changes taking place for people, processes and technology, it’s a challenge just to keep the status quo.  Unfortunately for the steady-as-it-goes-crowd, top performers are not thinking about how to maintain the status quo, they are thinking about how to smash new goals, introduce breakthrough products and processes and push forward.

The Leadership Unpopularity Law from Cohen Brown is, “You don’t have to be disliked to be a great leader, but you cannot be afraid to be disliked.”  Well, that is a game changer for some leaders as they may be afraid to be disliked and they think that means keeping the status quo.  But what if the status quo really isn’t working for the team?  What if the team really wants improvements and it’s just the leader who is afraid of the change or afraid to lead the change?

Well, for all the meek and mild leaders, we have a way to for you to engage the team and get the change that is needed.  This is a paradigm shift of telling people what to do.  It involves getting all the ideas from the team in a brainstorm session, then letting the entire team vote on their favorites and providing their commitments to move forward.  How hard is that?  And you don’t have to worry about being unpopular, you’ll be popular with everyone because everyone had input.  It just takes breaking the status quo of leadership behaviors to try new ways to engage the team.

Collaboration can be a great way to get great ideas and smash new goals.  But use it the right way.  So protecting the status quo with getting collaboration from the team may be on your personal agenda but it won’t be on the company’s agenda and it won’t be on the hitting new goals agenda.  Engaging the team with a structured collaboration process and moving forward is about the only option companies who are serious about growing have now.

P.S. Just by reading this blog you may have changed your leadership behaviors, that wasn’t so bad was it?

Johanna Lubahn is Managing Director of Call Center Services for Cohen Brown Management Group, Inc.