WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:04.360 Welcome back in Your Leadership. I'm Chris and I'm Lorenzo. And Lorenzo on 2 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.439 this episode, I want to talk about change management and the elements that go 3 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.679 into managing change with a team, especially changes that can be a little on 4 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.600 the complex side. Yeah, I like that. I think what we tend 5 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.399 to think that all change is simple, and that we say, like change 6 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:21.679 is the only constant and change we got to figure it all out. But 7 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:24.800 like, change can be difficult most of the time, right, Right, 8 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.760 If you it can be simple from a leadership standpoint to change things, if 9 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:32.359 you expect to you know, have to do no work on your own and 10 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.119 just expect people to change, right, then that that could be simple, 11 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:41.920 but it's often not effective. Right. So when you're when you're managing change, 12 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:45.719 complex change, but even change that might not be complex, you have 13 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:49.759 to understand there are elements that go into making sure that it is effective and 14 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:54.119 that it happens. And you know, I saw a kind of a conversation 15 00:00:54.200 --> 00:01:00.479 online around this that had some elements listed that are needed in order for change 16 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:03.959 to happen in an effective way. And there are five elements that go into 17 00:01:03.959 --> 00:01:08.560 this, and I want to talk about it from the perspective of what happens 18 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.239 when each of these or any of these is lacking. And so, you 19 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:19.159 know, the conversation basically is that for effective complex change to occur, you 20 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.959 need to have a vision, you need to have skills, you need to 21 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:25.640 have incentives, you have resources, and you'd have an action plan. And 22 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:26.640 that seems pretty obvious, like, you know, there could be other that 23 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:29.480 you might be able to think, oh, I need this in this too, 24 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.560 But if you have those five things vision, skills, incentives, resources, 25 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:38.760 and an action plan, those are absolute prerequisites to you know, affecting 26 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:45.799 a change in the right way. And if any of those things is lacking, 27 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.959 you don't get change. You get something else, You get something other 28 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.719 than the change you're looking for. But what those outcomes are will vary depending 29 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:57.840 on what is lacking. And the reason I think this is an important conversation 30 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:02.040 is because there are leadership teams out there who are trying to affect change on 31 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:07.960 their teams and one of these things is lacking. They're they're really good likely 32 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:12.319 at some of these things, and some of these things they need to get 33 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.759 better at doing. And if you're a leader of people and you're not getting 34 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:19.479 the change you're looking for. Being able to look at it through a lens 35 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:23.159 of which of these things is lacking might help you figure out where to start 36 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:27.000 making some changes, as opposed to just thinking, Wow, this change isn't 37 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.080 happening. I wonder why let's start over. Maybe the plan wasn't right. 38 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:32.879 I think this is a good conversation to have around this. Yeah, And 39 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:36.319 what I like about it too is like I think, in the context of 40 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.039 it being about complex change, when we read through this and talk about these 41 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:46.280 things, I immediately think about times where you're looking to have a leader with 42 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:50.800 a team try to work through a strategy. So not even like we can 43 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.560 say like change is one thing you hear change, you think of these big 44 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:55.719 drastic movements or something that we used to do we totally don't do anymore. 45 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:00.000 We have to do this now. And I think about strategy, because strategy 46 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:04.400 on the surface is change. Like you're thinking about what's something that you're looking 47 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:07.240 to have an impact on, and then what do you have to do to 48 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.159 work that out so that you can have the outcome that you want. Well, 49 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:13.360 that's going to be changing some things. And so when I think about 50 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:17.039 this, I don't think necessarily about just the kind of the big elements of 51 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:22.479 major change I think about when I sit down with the leader and I'm asking 52 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.400 the questions about a strategy that they have and maybe why that strategy is not 53 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:30.120 being effective. This works out really, really well when I'm thinking about asking 54 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:34.439 the questions that I need to ask and figuring out why maybe they're hitting some 55 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:37.400 roadblocks on their way to success, right, because likely if they're hitting some 56 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.879 roadblocks, it's because one of these five things is missing. And if they're 57 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.639 thinking themselves, oh my gosh, like, my vision is amazing here, 58 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.639 and my team has told like the skills that are needed to do this. 59 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:53.080 They have those skills and they're great at them. Why is this not happening? 60 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:55.199 Well, well, clearly it's not lacking vision. It's not lacking skills. 61 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.639 There's something else that's lacking. So, you know, the first kind 62 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:02.080 of element of this, if we take away vision, if we just have 63 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.400 a team that has, uh, they have a lot of skills and you've 64 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:10.080 incentivized them, meaning there's you know, potential career advancement, or there's you 65 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:15.080 know, promotions or more money. If the organization or the team is saying, 66 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:16.399 what do you need whatever, we can provide that you need to get 67 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.079 this done. Here you go, you got it, and here's the plan. 68 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:23.839 If you if you have all those things but you're lacking vision, this 69 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.639 says that what you end up with this confusion. You have people who are 70 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.800 confused about what they should be doing. And that makes sense if you have 71 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:33.319 the team that is a skillful team, and you're recognizing and rewarding them and 72 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.959 you're giving them all the resources they need, but they have no idea what 73 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.120 it is that they are, you know, looking to go to. It's 74 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:44.439 not it's not like we're we're going to the moon, right, like that's 75 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.120 the north star? What are you looking to do? We're we're changing this 76 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.759 organization's branding to you know, to appeal to this customer. Whatever it is, 77 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:56.120 whatever that vision is. If it's not very clear, then you have 78 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.800 different people taking those skills and those incentives and those resources, that action plan, 79 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:03.720 and they're kind of directing it in varying directions, not towards kind of 80 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:06.439 like a centralized goal. Yeah, this is kind of the epitome of the 81 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:11.800 start with the why concept around like do people understand, like what is the 82 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.079 vision here? Why are we doing this? Right? You know, what 83 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:18.279 are we trying to accomplish with this? What's the need for this change? 84 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:21.680 And if you miss that part, then to your point, people create their 85 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:26.079 own narratives. And while they may have the skills, incentives resources in an 86 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:29.959 action plan, there's going to be some confusion because they're going to go different 87 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.439 directions. There's not that lighthouse that everybody's heading towards. There's no true clear 88 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.040 vision on what's happening, and that's going to create confusion because people are going 89 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.600 to fill in the blink on their own right. And it will happen not 90 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:45.600 at the beginning, because everybody will think that like the vision is one of 91 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.160 those things where if you have of the skills and the incentives and the resources 92 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:53.160 of the action plan and you're not being presented with a clear vision, people 93 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.399 will fill that in and they'll think it's right, and they'll start working towards 94 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:58.920 that thing they think is right, and it won't be clear that there's a 95 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.639 problem until people start looking around. I'm thinking, why is everybody going in 96 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:05.680 different directions here? Right? Like it happens after the fact, you know, 97 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:10.040 not at the beginning, and by then you've wasted a lot of time 98 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:14.439 and you've wasted a lot of skills and incentives and resources. The next element 99 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.839 that is a requirement. Here are skills. And this is when I'm thinking 100 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:21.000 about, you know, something that I've been asked to do in my life, 101 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:25.680 like any type of change that I've been asked to do. If I've 102 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:30.839 been presented with a great vision and the person who is expecting this change is 103 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:33.319 incentivizing me to do it, and I've been given the resources, they're saying 104 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:35.000 to me, hey, what do you need, Chris to get this done? 105 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:36.399 And I say I need this and this and this, and they go, 106 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:40.199 here you go, here's the plan. And in my mind, I'm 107 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:45.560 thinking I can't do this. I don't know how to do this. That 108 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:48.360 leads to a sense of anxiety. And if I don't have the skills necessary 109 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:53.360 to do something, that is where the anxiety comes from. And if they 110 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.079 are skills that I think I can learn, that will lessen the anxiety. 111 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.519 But if there's a timeline, and oftentimes change has a tight timeline or expectation 112 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.079 of timeline, that can heighten the anxiety. But as a leader, you 113 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.879 need to be aware of what skills are needed to accomplish a specific change and 114 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.319 where they're lacking, because if you put a team into action and say go 115 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:17.680 do this without knowing where the skills lie, you're going to have some a 116 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:20.639 lot of hesitation from a lot of team members who feel anxiety they won't be 117 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.800 able to get it done and they're afraid of failing. Yeah, I think 118 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:28.079 this is a big one. You know. I talk about skills a lot 119 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:32.079 because I think that we tend to make a lot of assumption of a specific 120 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.519 set of skills based upon the title of people, and especially when you kind 121 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:40.399 of get into the role of leadership, there's this assumption that everybody has the 122 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.319 skill to do this thing. And while they may have some skill, it 123 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.759 might not be the right skill. It might not be at the level that 124 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:47.920 you need it to be. It may not be a skill they've used in 125 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:53.279 a long time, or maybe a skill that they've been able to kind of 126 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:56.600 just barely get by with. And when you have change, when you have 127 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.800 a strategy, when you have something that's going on, this is kind of 128 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.279 the one of the first things I sniff out when it comes to just like 129 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:07.800 why people may be feeling anxious about something that's happening, is is you start 130 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:11.759 to ask enough questions you do start to under understand and discover that there can 131 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.800 there can be a skill gap. And that skill gap is what's causing that 132 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:16.480 exacty, Because if everything else is there, you have it all, and 133 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:20.639 there's still some anxiety towards it, it's more than likely going to be the 134 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:24.079 skills and the person maybe they're not comfortable sharing that yet, or maybe they 135 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.160 don't know, they don't know what they need to know, but they do 136 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.720 know they don't they don't necessarily have what they need to make this happen. 137 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.639 Right, And when it comes to skills too, I also think about, 138 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.799 you know, skills on paper versus skills in the in the moment when it's 139 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.039 needed. Those are very different. And I think about it from the standpoint 140 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:45.080 of like, let's say that you take self defense classes, right, and 141 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.679 you've been taking them for two years, and you you you demonstrate with your 142 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:52.799 instructor on how you can, you know, disarm a person who is trying 143 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.960 to rob you, and and it works well in the classroom. That doesn't 144 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:00.519 necessarily mean it works well if you're actually being robbed, right, That doesn't 145 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.600 mean that the moment that it actually happens, you're not going to freeze up 146 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:09.919 and forget or have the inability to demonstrate those skills in the moment. And 147 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:13.519 so when you are a leader and you're trying to ensure the skills are needed, 148 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.120 are there are It's not just about you know, being able to regurge 149 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:22.279 to them or have them reiterate to you these are the skills that are needed 150 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.360 and yes I have them. You need to see them in action in a 151 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:28.320 way that lets you be able to understand whether or not they can do it 152 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.879 in the moment when when push comes to shove, and and if they can't, 153 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.200 being able to recognize that and help them so that it becomes muscle memory, 154 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.559 so that becomes something they can do in the moment, and that they're 155 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.840 good enough at to do it when change is happening, not just good enough 156 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.120 to do it when that's all they have to focus on is the skill, 157 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.840 but when there's other things going on that might lead them not doing it as 158 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.080 well. The third thing that you can take away from you know, change 159 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:58.240 management that will lead to not change management, or that will lead to not 160 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.840 having a change is incentives. And you know, I think about this, 161 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:05.879 you know, the the old Adam, the old uh acronym with them what's 162 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.559 it what's in it for me? And that can sound selfish, but it 163 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:13.799 is what it is, like, it is selfish. If you're expecting teams 164 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:18.039 of people to make complex changes, they need to see what's in it for 165 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.120 them. And I'm not talking about they need to see that you're gonna, 166 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.879 like, you know, give them, you know money, here's here's cash 167 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:26.919 for making this change. That's not what it means. It just means that 168 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:33.200 they need to see why this is happening and be bought into that change for 169 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.879 something that is good for them and not just something that is good for other 170 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:39.639 people. And so if this, if the change is that, hey, 171 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:45.919 you know, we're gonna ask that you start helping four times as many clients 172 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.679 as you were currently helping, and and and and the uh, the the 173 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:52.639 incentive is the company is gonna save money because we're gonna fire three fourths of 174 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:56.360 you and one fourth of you is remaining to take on four times the work 175 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:00.600 of the other ones. That's not an incentive, obviously, right, that's 176 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:05.799 that's a disincentive. And so but if the if the if it's articulated in 177 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:09.559 a way that says, hey, you know, the the company's about to 178 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.080 go under. We can't do this anymore, and we have to figure out 179 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:18.039 a way to stay afloat. Then there are ways of doing this that that 180 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:22.720 keep the people who have to stay on to do more work for them to 181 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.960 see what's in it for them is that they're still employed and that they're gonna 182 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:31.240 get through this tough time with the organization and then there will be more doors 183 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.919 that are opening in the future. But let's keep the boat afloat for a 184 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.399 while, and you to be honest about what that incentive is it Again, 185 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.000 the incentive can be very basic or it can be, you know, very 186 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:43.559 broad, but it has to be articulated in a way where there's an agreement 187 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.919 upon what that incentive is. Yeah, absolutely, I think too it's like 188 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.480 resistance and incentives. And sometimes it's kind of like when you're talking through some 189 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:00.480 of the compensation pieces, bonus pieces, things like that. But I think 190 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:05.159 for me, when it comes to strategy, it's like the incentive around what 191 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:09.159 a what are you learning, what are you gaining, what's what's what? 192 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:11.799 What what is this going to do to like kind of help you to move 193 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:16.200 forward? Like I recently think about some conversations I was having and talking about 194 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.159 like the not just the skills, but the things that you gain when you 195 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:24.039 work in retail, and and like these are like lifelong skills. These are 196 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.600 things that you can either build a career on when it comes to you know, 197 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.440 staying with the company working in retail. These are things that you can 198 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:35.919 take with you as a side hustle, small business, other types of things. 199 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:41.960 If you're really kind of thinking about what you what you get in working 200 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:45.080 in this type of an environment, and those are incentives if you think of 201 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:46.759 them that way. But it's clear and you talk about it that way, 202 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:52.639 and sometimes people don't think about those types of things, and so like that's 203 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.720 where I think it's important to kind of clarify for people, Like when it 204 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:00.360 comes to either the change or the strategy, here and here is kind of 205 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:01.360 where this can go and which you can get from this and how this is 206 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:03.919 going to help you going forward. Right, And if the incentives don't speak 207 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:09.159 to that person, then they're the wrong incentives. And that means either you 208 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:15.639 need to help that person with incentives that are effective, or you have to 209 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.440 understand that they're the wrong person to help manage this change. If the if 210 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:24.240 you can't find an agreed upon set of incentives that work, then that's the 211 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.519 wrong person to be, you know, part of this change, and it 212 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:31.039 might mean the the wrong person for the organization. But if you if you 213 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:35.440 know your people and you work hard enough to make sure that you that you 214 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:39.759 know what their long term goals are, it really shouldn't be that hard to 215 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:43.559 figure out incentives that work. Even if you are limited on what you can 216 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.000 you know, pay them or bonus them, there's there are incentives you can 217 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.600 come up with that will work. The fourth element that is necessary here that 218 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:54.039 we've been talking about is resources. And so if you have a great vision 219 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:58.879 and your people are skilled, and you've incentivized them by talking about the what's 220 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.519 in it for them in terms of skill building, you know, doors being 221 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:05.440 opened for them, promotions, potential bonuses, whatever that is. And you 222 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:09.480 have a great action plan but you're not willing to put the resources into it, 223 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.240 then you're going to get a lot of frustrated employees. You're going to 224 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:18.080 get employees who really want to make something happen, but they just can't because 225 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.840 you have not put the resources into it that are necessary. Yeah, this 226 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:24.279 one's pretty self explanatory. Pretty easy. And I think we all we've all 227 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:26.879 been a part of that before, where it's like you have everything, you 228 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:31.039 know, everything makes total sense. You just don't have the resources you need 229 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.279 to get it done in the time that it needs to get done or with 230 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:37.159 the urgency that it needs to get done. And that can be super frustrating. 231 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.240 Yeah, it can. And and you know, if you are a 232 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:45.000 leader and you're noticing this, sometimes you know having to revisit the resources needed 233 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.840 in the moment or throughout the process is necessary. Sometimes you do your due 234 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:52.080 diligence and you think these are the resources needed, and then you realize, 235 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.919 you know what, maybe they're different resources are needed, and maybe more resource 236 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.240 sources are needed, whatever that is. You need to be noticing this so 237 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:03.480 that you can react to it in the moment. And oftentimes you maybe you 238 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.639 don't have the ability to make that decision to say I need more resources, 239 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.639 but there are people you can partner with to at least put that out there 240 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.559 and say, you know what, I feel like this is not working because 241 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:16.960 I don't have the resources. You'll get one of two answers, either oh 242 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.720 my gosh, here's more resources, or they're going to say, well, 243 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:24.600 other people are doing it with the resources that we'll be giving. Let's talk 244 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:26.440 more about this, because maybe you think it's a lack of resources, but 245 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.519 it's really a lack of skills, Or maybe you think it's a lack of 246 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:31.759 resources, but it's a lack of vision. Whatever it is, you can 247 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.399 interpret a lack of You could interpret a frustration as a lack of resources when 248 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:39.600 it might not be. And sometimes taking a partner with somebody who is not 249 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:41.679 as close to it, who can you know, kind of look at it 250 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:45.799 from a macro view, might be able to help you, you know, 251 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.600 get through it. But if you're one of a whole bunch of leaders who 252 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:52.120 is articulating that they don't have the resources and it's a kind of a shared 253 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.559 frustration throughout, at that point your organization will have to decide either we need 254 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.320 to put more resources towards this, or it was the wrong plan of action 255 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:02.519 and we need to kind of kind of back off. But but yeah, 256 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.919 this is this is a very important one. The last one is a lack 257 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:08.320 of action plan. And with a lack of action plan, you get you 258 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:12.759 get what with this basically is false starting people have the vision, they have 259 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:17.840 the skills, they have incentive incentivized to do it, they have the resources, 260 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.080 but no one is really sat down and said, Okay, this is 261 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.759 step one, this is step two, this is step ten. Uh. 262 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:26.879 If you don't have that action plan in place before the beginning, you'll have 263 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.000 people who are starting at different parts of a plan, whatever works in their 264 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:34.399 own head and and you won't be working together. There won't be any cohesion. 265 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.120 There'll be people kind of like looking at different outcomes as the goal. 266 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.960 When when an actuality, you know, you should be kind of level setting 267 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:45.200 to make sure people are doing the same thing. It's a great call out. 268 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.960 You're going to have a delta in the ways in which people take action 269 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:53.639 quickly and and how you know, even with the vision, the skills and 270 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:59.320 sentives and resources, like, how they want to go about getting things done 271 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.240 when they want to get it done. What's the level of urgency? You 272 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:07.480 know? And and when you leave the ability to have a plan kind of 273 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.119 open to all, then you get a lot of variance when it comes to 274 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.880 you know, when does it start, when does it end, how does 275 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:19.960 it get cascaded? What what do the milestones look like? How do you 276 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.799 communicate back in and form back it just it creates a lot of just kind 277 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:29.359 of everybody running down their own path and then that you know again that can 278 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:32.759 then then pull back and to cost some other issues there. But it's it 279 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:36.920 makes it really hard to move teams together. If ever, if everybody doesn't 280 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:38.920 have a clear objective on what they're trying to do together from an action planning 281 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:42.279 standpoint, right, And if you're if you're a retail leader or if you're 282 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:48.079 you know, kind of in middle management in an organization, then oftentimes the 283 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:52.960 action plan is given to you, like oftentimes the plan of action has been 284 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:57.640 figured out by other people in beta testing or in you know kind of you 285 00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:02.720 know, storyboarding things out, and resources have already been put into figuring out 286 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:06.640 what the action plan is, and that it's assumed that if it as long 287 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:10.640 as it's executed, that it will work. If you're fortunate enough to have 288 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:14.440 that, that's fantastic. If you're the person who's putting together the action plan, 289 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.000 then it's really important to make sure that the people who have to execute 290 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:21.559 that plan are involved in the planning of it and are involved in the creation 291 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:23.839 of it. If you're just if you're a leader of people and you are 292 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.680 putting together an action plan that your team has to execute, you won't get 293 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:32.960 you You will get resistance from them. You will get this kind of you 294 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:36.680 know, like, who are you to create this plan all on your own? 295 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.359 If you are just you know, telling people what a plan is that 296 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.079 was given to you, that's fine. It is what it is. And 297 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.480 you're you're essentially a part of that plan too. You have your role to 298 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:51.200 play in that plan. But if you're creating that plan, do whatever you 299 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.319 can to make sure that the people are executing it are as involved in that 300 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:57.240 action plan as possible, because they will it will be more likely to buy 301 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.440 into it and execute it correctly and be on the same page as far as 302 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.319 what the plan is. You kind of agree on it in advance, on 303 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.119 what step one is and where you're going to start, and then you know 304 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.039 you're less likely to get those false starts or people kind of acting on what 305 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:15.480 they think is the right thing but doing it doing it in the wrong way. 306 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.599 Absolutely, And with that it brings us to this episode to one minute 307 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.839 Hack. But first a few words from our sponsors. All right, for 308 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:23.039 this episode, one minute Heckers wants you to do. I want you to 309 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:26.480 look at this infograph and I'll put a link to it in the podcast description. 310 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:30.480 It clearly lays out what happens when each of these things are are lacking. 311 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:37.000 Look at this in the in the context of a change or a strategy 312 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:41.079 that you're trying to put in place that you're having some difficulty with, and 313 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:45.519 think about it from the perspective of which of these items is missing that could 314 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:51.119 be leading to it. Having an idea of where where an element is missing 315 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:55.359 from this list of five things can greatly help you figure out where to put 316 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.680 your efforts at resources into solving it. And also, and this is equally 317 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.799 importan and ask somebody to look at it with you who is not as close 318 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:06.279 to the work as you are. So if you're the one leading the team 319 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:08.039 and you have to do this, partnering with a person who can look at 320 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:12.880 you and your team and give you ideas about where something might be lacking, 321 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:17.240 that can be important because if they have a different perspective than you have, 322 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:19.680 it could just be that you think one thing is lacking when really it's something 323 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:23.160 else. Partner with your team as well. If they're being expected to do 324 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.880 something and you're not seeing the results, you're looking for, ask them what 325 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:30.279 they think is missing. You can show them this this infograph and say, 326 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:34.240 you know, this is what what we're expecting here, This isn't happening. 327 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:37.920 Why do you think is not happening? Which of these things do you believe 328 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:41.319 is missing? If you have varying answers from people who are all over the 329 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:45.880 placing what they think is missing, then then that's a problem. If they're 330 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.839 all in agreement on what's missing, or if they're all raising their hands saying 331 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.440 yep, it's resources, resources, resource. If they're all in agreement, 332 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.799 you probably know at least where to start. You know where to start that 333 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.400 process going. But it's necessary to manage complex change to have all of these 334 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:03.240 things. If you're lacking any of them, you won't get the change you're 335 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:04.400 looking for. Yeah. No, I think it's a great practice as well 336 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.960 when you're thinking about change or strategy to be able to answer the questions for 337 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.319 yourself as a leader. So what is the vision here? Do I think 338 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.680 we have the skills or what are the skills necessary? Not even do I 339 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:15.720 think we have them? Like, what are the skills necessary to make this 340 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.440 happen? What is the intensive for us to be successful here. You know, 341 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:22.519 do we have the resources? What are the resources? And then and 342 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.079 then what is the action plan? And again to your point, is is 343 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.720 it prepared for us or is this something that we have to create for ourselves. 344 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.720 But taking that time to kind of answer those questions will be super helpful 345 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.920 in either avoiding some of this from happening or minimizing it as much as possible. 346 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:41.480 Right, And I like that you brought up skills again because I think 347 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:47.279 defining the skills necessary to do something not in the context of whether or not 348 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:51.240 your people have them, but just in the context of what is needed and 349 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:52.799 kind of defining that. You know, we talk a lot about that when 350 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:57.480 it comes to talent management and talent calibration. Being able to look at what 351 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:03.880 skills are needed to be able to to do something and then applying that agreed 352 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:08.680 upon skill set to the people is far more effective than starting with the question 353 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:12.720 of do my people have the skills necessary to do this? It's much more 354 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.359 subjective to start with the person and then to see if they have the skills 355 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:22.079 necessary. It's far more effective to start with the skills necessary, clearly define 356 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:25.039 what those skills are, and then look at that look at each of your 357 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:29.640 people through the lens of what you've agreed upon the skills are. If you 358 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:33.480 don't do that first, it can be very easy to have different beliefs of 359 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.240 who has the skills. You know, you have some leaders thinking that this 360 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:38.839 team does have the skills and other people thinking this team doesn't have the skills. 361 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:41.599 And it all starts with the fact that no one is level set on 362 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:45.240 what the skills are and how to define them absolutely. And with that it 363 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.720 brings us to the end of this episode, this is hacking your leadership. 364 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.279 I'm Lorenzo and I'm Chris, and we'll talk to you all next time.