Wednesday November 26, 2014
By DR MICHAEL HEAH
editor@mystarjob.com
Question: I have been the general manager of a small medium organisation for eight months already. I was brought in to stop the bleeding that this organisation has been experiencing for the last three years.
I know the pressure is on me to perform. So during this time, I have kept a low profile, as I want to focus my time more on observing and talking to the people there.
I have now a fairly accurate impression of this organisation, what it is doing, how it is doing and where it is going. Now, I need to get my facts together and move the organisation to where it should be.
It is at this point where I am stuck and I do not know what to do next. The biggest concern is whether the people will be with me on this journey.
What are your thoughts on this?
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Answer: It is laudable that you are at the starting point of this journey before the others as they will probably be doing what they have been doing. Someone has to be above the trees to see the forest so that a clear direction can be plotted to move it to where it should be.
The goal is to get as many of them to rise above the trees so that you have a team who is with you. Without them, nothing is going to work.
By now, you should have the key people with you. This should be the first place of focus where you build your trust with them.
Once you have accomplished this, the next step is to have the best idea on what the ‘new organisation’ ought to be. This is very important as everything starts with a good and strong idea that is supported by your people.
So you should bring everyone in and just focus on getting this through a series of brainstorming sessions where you act as the facilitator. Once, this is achieved, get the commitment from everyone to translate the idea into key actions and accountabilities that everyone will take.
Keep talking about this idea and track their actions until the entire organisation is ‘infected’ with it.
Only then will there be momentum to move the idea to become the reality that you and everyone want it to be.
Powerful Questions:
• What is the big strong idea that you and everyone have about the organisation?
• What is the vision that will keep everyone together?
• How do you want to move this forward?
• How will you want to model the way?
Article by Dr Michael Heah, an ICF Master Certified Coach with www.corporate-coachacademy.com
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