Old script, new characters

I have heard complaints from good citizens that every time a new president is installed into office, the new leader of the country ignores the achievements of the past and rather than continuing with what has worked before would stop it and institute new policies, new orders and new initiatives. No need to wonder. The new leader is now marking his or her turf. Sending the impression and message that, “From now on, I am the one in charge here!”

Do you know that the same situation happens in corporate businesses as well? I had a client who invested a fortune in training and it went very well. The lessons resonated throughout the entire organization. The leadership and the people they lead were highly motivated and the corporate culture was built and established.

Now here comes a new leader. And the first thing this new leader did was “REORGANIZE.” Never mind that the program worked, ignore the fact that the company invested heavily in it. Change is in the air and the new leader marks the turf, hires new people to help her get things done because there is no trust on the “old people.”

Suspecting that the loyalties may remain with the one the new leader replaced. Like an old script in a telenovela with the same worn-out plot but with new characters replacing the old ones; de-motivation begins. The unity of the team is now shattered. Factions appear. The older and better people begin to discuss terms with headhunters while others out of frustration tendered their resignation because they cannot take what’s happening. Pretty soon performance goes down, sales decrease, good people leave, crucial information is withheld and all the years of hard work and investments in training goes down the drain and for what? To feed the egos of those who care more about turf protection rather than company performance.

What the new leader has done is to initiate change without understanding context and building relationships first; sets in new programs, rearrange and reconfigure corporate policies, behaviors and disrupts company culture and stops progress.

Now here is another old script happening to new characters. There is a phrase that goes this way: “It is lonely at the top.”

Ask the top honchos of business companies and they will tell you this is true. The bigger the organization grows, the more are the complexities. And the higher the leader climbs in an organization, the more the information is filtered. The leader is now surrounded by people who would screen off others in order to “protect” the leader from bad news and “wastes of his or her precious time.” Others are afraid to tell the truth for fear that some new kid in the block brought in by the new leader might shoot the messenger that bears the message. And so the leader becomes clueless to what is happening.

Vital information is now withheld and worst, revised and window-dressed to please the leader. The people surrounding the new leader now laugh at his or her every joke. They make the leader feel good and needed. They feed the ego and they get what they want.

This is an old script that keeps on playing with only changes in character and in most cases, lead to the same bad ending.

Malcolm Muggeridge was right when he said: “There are no new things happening. Only old things happening to new people.”

The leader should be wise; humble; and not be selective with what he or she wants to hear. The leader should say, “Tell me the bad news so we can fix the problem. I do not hate bad news but I hate surprises.” Get out of the fancy offices, go to the frontlines and see what is happening.

The leaders should show that truth is valued and window dressing and falsehood will not be tolerated. A culture of transparency should be the norm. This is essential for company’s growth and progress. Get the facts. Calm the nerves. Build relationships. Park the ego at the farthest end of the parking lot. Retain the things that work. Introduce change but educate and prepare people first. Train and be involved for after all – everything hinges on relationship and understanding in having the same shared goals and values. Things like these never change.

(Attend and experience two inspiring days of leadership training with Francis Kong in his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership seminar-workshop April 18-19 at Seda Hotel BGC. For registration or inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798 or visit www.levelupleadership.ph)