The People That Came Before Us Weren't Stupid
If you spend enough time in Corporate America you know that sometimes you are on the "winning end" of organizational change and other times you are on the "losing end". I've had the distinct honor of being on both sides of this equation over the years and it has left me saying...in more than one circumstance....to more than one person...
"the people that came before us weren't stupid"
If you haven't embraced this concept yet as a saying or a mantra... my guess is it will just take you a little more time to get there.
I have to admit that early in my career I was the unwitting victim of thinking that my energy...passion...point of view...and work ethic could conquer anything. I was also fairly judgmental about others in leadership positions. In some cases...it really baffled me that they not only held the position they held....but the decisions they made or approach they took was leading the team or company in the wrong direction.
If the truth be told... I was basically an "armchair quarterback". It really is easy to be on the sideline...in your comfort zone and from your limited viewpoint judge others on how they are playing the game.
As you might already have put together... when I did finally get my big chance in the coaches seat...calling the shots... moving the ball up the field... I realized that there was more to the game than what I was seeing from my comfy armchair on the sidelines. That those who had the role before me.... or were in a similar position... weren't stupid. They knew what they were doing... there were just headwinds or other factors in play that weren't visible to me and they were doing the best they could every day to make the company and their teams successful.
This has led me to the following conclusions at this stage in my career:
Don't assume it's never been tried before. I have made this mistake more times than I care to admit. As I ran towards the fire and eagerly tried to show my value I jumped to conclusions and assumed that NO ONE had ever tried it "this way" before. Now a days I immediately assume it HAS been tried before and I ask a lot of questions about why the idea failed previously... what has changed in the landscape that makes it a better bet it could work THIS TIME... how can we learn from previous mistakes and make NEW ones this time around?
Slow down...identify key stakeholders...take others with you. When you are entrusted with a team and taking over a role in the organization where change is clearly needed you need to make sure you take others with you as you try and turn the ship around. My personal experience and observation is that the pressure you are under to "deliver" can cause you to take shortcuts. One of those shortcuts is to not understand WHY the previous leader...organizational structure or team failed and needed to be replaced. Even when you do this there is no guarantees but without it you will most certainly find yourself in trouble quickly. Once you have this knowledge... you need to communicate and test your findings/approach with a broad group of stakeholders. You will quickly understand the support you need to be more successful than your predecessors or if you are destined to suffer the same fate.
Just because you have seen it work somewhere else doesn't mean it will work here. I think this is among my top learnings. How many times have YOU seen a company hire a "top executive" from outside the company to take over a key role and FINALLY show the team how it's done?! I have a lot of examples of this over the years where the leadership team looked at the competitive landscape and assumed that if they hired in a "top dog" from a company they viewed as successful then miraculously everything would be fixed. They assumed the people in the roles before didn't know what they were doing. Turns out...time after time... it wasn't that the previous leader didn't know what to do...it was that WHAT they were being asked to do didn't match the company's true strategy...culture...customer profile...processes...systems...tools...etc. It was bigger than one person or outside of the realm of their influence. I'm not saying that hiring from the outside is entirely a bad idea or doesn't bring fresh perspective... I'm just saying history will repeat itself on a predictable cycle if all you do is replace leaders and not address the harder things that the company has chosen to ignore or dismiss.
In Closing...
I have also realized over the years that both you and the company need to work together and anticipate when leadership change is needed. What I have found is that there is a tipping point between you being the "new person" who brings fresh ideas...hope and enthusiasm in your leadership role to where YOU are now "the people that came before" and know too much.
I wish I had all the answers or the formula for how to navigate these waters in your leadership journey. The best advice I can give is as follows:
history is important. Take time to understand it. It doesn't mean it should stop you from innovating or moving forward...just don't ignore it
be careful of how you speak of those who came before you... in the not too distant future...that will be YOU
Leadership Questions of the Week for YOU:
What do YOU think of the saying "the people that came before us weren't stupid"? Can you think of times in your career where YOU have learned this lesson the hard way?
When YOU have taken on new roles, have you reached the same 3 conclusions above at any point in your journey?
What other observations or conclusions would YOU share with others?
In your current role, where do you think you are? Are you on the front end running in to affect change or are you more on the side of "knowing too much"?
What advice would YOU give to others on navigating these waters?
Thanks for reading….and remember…YOU make a difference!
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