{"id":803,"date":"2024-09-25T09:19:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T08:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/?p=803"},"modified":"2024-10-11T09:32:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T08:32:07","slug":"9-out-of-10-transformation-programmes-are-leadership-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/2024\/09\/25\/9-out-of-10-transformation-programmes-are-leadership-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"9 out of 10 transformation programmes are leadership problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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9 out of 10 transformation programmes are leadership problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what I was told by someone who has run many transformation programmes as a managing consultant. I won\u2019t do so, but if I shared the consultancy name, you\u2019d feel comfortable with the comment too. However, if the \u20189 out of 10\u2019 really is accurate, which my experience supports, then \u2018transformation\u2019 programmes are facing a unique conundrum, a uniquely human conundrum at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAssume no one wants to change, until they actually do\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve long harboured writing a post with that title, provocative but sufficiently realistic to justify, and anyone involved in the counselling and psychotherapy industry will likely resonate with the sentiment. \u2018I really want to change, but (insert reasons why it\u2019s not possible here)\u2019<\/em> is an apt description of many weekly counselling sessions nationwide. I never did write that post, but the \u20189 out of 10\u2019 comment brought it to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not judging the sincerity of the client or the extent to which they are suffering; see it as a comment on the terribly difficult nature of human change and transformation. Yet, amongst the tears and heartache, the potential for change is always present, waiting for a revelation, a spark of divine intervention, or some other mysterious happening. Change really is like that, often unexplained or unexplainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing showed me this more than late nights volunteering on the Samaritans (suicide) helpline. Such a variety of people called in varying states of distress, but surprisingly, I rarely worried about the most distressed callers in the same way I did for those in only mild distress. You see, many of the most desperate calls ended on a relatively good note, simply because hitting rock bottom reveals hidden reserves you didn\u2019t even know you had. It gave me something to work with as a call handler. Unfortunately, the same can\u2019t be said when you are only part-distressed, contemplating change but without your life depending on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the relevance of personal change to transformation programmes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Firstly<\/strong>, consider adopting a standing assumption that people don\u2019t want to change, until they do. \u2018Thank you for accepting the job, welcome to the transformation programme\u2019 might actually mean \u2018we talk a lot about change, you will too I\u2019m sure, but we haven\u2019t managed it yet, and there is a chance we might not either\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly<\/strong>, almost every transformation programme I\u2019ve seen has been founded on some basis of \u2018cost savings\u2019 rather than an urgent need to save the company\u2019s life. Does this result in a lacklustre commitment similar to someone experiencing only mild distress? Yes, I believe so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly<\/strong>, the heat and fire of transformation programmes burn brightest in the middle and lower bowels of the organisation. I\u2019ve seen plenty of corporate programmes furiously working away, whilst the very individuals in the programme express confusion and doubt about the direction of travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if the trauma of trying to bring change from middle and lower levels, is better explained by the very human difficulty that executives have in first changing and transforming themselves? It\u2019s not a stupid idea if you consider how much money people like Tony Robbins have made from helping people do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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9 out of 10 transformation programmes are leadership problems. Makes you think, particularly if you are working in one right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

9 out of 10 transformation programmes are leadership problems. That\u2019s what I was told by someone who has run many transformation programmes as a managing consultant. I won\u2019t do so, but if I shared the consultancy name, you\u2019d feel comfortable with the comment too. However, if the \u20189 out of 10\u2019 really is accurate, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","missing-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8082\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}