Leaders can become frustrated at their own reluctance to pivot perhaps due to the misunderstanding that the decision to pivot could look like they “don’t know what they are doing”. Some leaders may even think that if they change their minds somehow, they are not being their word, leading some to interpret themselves as having an integrity issue, further compounding the emotions triggered. Believe it or not, this can silence a leader, causing them to lock into a made decision regardless of the evidence showing this particular approach no longer works.
What causes a leader to have to adjust their strategy? New information comes to light, stakeholders change, partnerships change, the fiscal environment changes, or a piece of equipment breaks, just to name a few. It is interesting to learn that even though these are great reasons for leaders to change their minds, some leaders fear this means they lack integrity. Somewhere along the way, integrity may have gotten defined as “doing what I said I was going to do”. But is that integrity?
Integrity is about staying in alignment with our values and our goals. The operative word is staying. To stay in alignment infers there are pressures that keep this journey from being resistant free, but rather require active participation in order to keep our values and goals in sight. In order to be successful in our complex, ever-changing world, it is rare that one strategy will work without having to experience some adjustments along the way. This idea of taking action using a decided-upon plan and then changing that plan can be uncomfortable for leaders and team members alike.
What do you do when you need to pivot directions? Whether you are changing the strategic plan or changing an ingrained culture, the idea of resetting expectations can cause an internal storm of self-doubt, leaving some leaders with a sense of wrongdoing or insecurity. What triggers these feelings to surface? Part of it may be realizing the impact that this will initially have on the team or even the time it will take to effectively communicate with the team. Part of it may be cultural.
There is this perception that great leaders are decisive and do not change their minds. However, the truth is great leaders hold tightly onto their goals while holding loosely to the strategies they use in achieving those goals. To the untrained eye, this can look like a leader who is distracted by anything new and shiny, and to be fair, those leaders do exist. However, there are leaders who intentionally change their strategy with the sole purpose of keeping the team on track to achieving their goals. Regardless of whether the goal is financial or related to keeping the culture healthy, adjustments along the way are required. So how do you reset expectations?
Example 1:
A leader wants to be updated daily on a specific metric. After a few weeks, the leader finds that getting this update daily was not as value-added as initially thought. The leader announces that another metric is now needed.
Getting humble, curious, and courageous:
While it can be frustrating for individuals on the team to make changes, holding tightly to non-value-added processes can be disastrous for the culture and productivity of a company. The flexibility to choose differently as a response to new information received is required of leaders today. Without this agility, the entire team experiences increased frustration leading to a decrease in productivity and employee engagement.
- State your intention.
- Language:
- “We need to make an adjustment to the information being reported.”
- Stating your intention decreases anxiety in the room. It allows people to stay present with you. Otherwise, people get in their heads, wondering what is going on and why you have brought them together. Being clear is being kind.
- Language:
- Acknowledge and thank the team for delivering on the initial request.
- Acknowledging and thanking your team is important to employee engagement, resilience, and the culture. Recognizing your team’s efforts and the time they took to work on something shows you understand what you are now asking them to do.
- Explain the rationale for changing the information needed in the daily update.
- Explaining the rationale, behind a decision made, shows respect. And while not everyone will agree with the rationale, it’s important to take the time to share what new information has come to light requiring this pivot.
- Connect how this change will support the team in delivering on its mission and goals.
- Connecting back to the mission is critical. Being mission-centered brings the team back together. It’s okay if not everyone is in agreement with the requested change. And people are more willing to try something new if they think it will support the mission. The mission is what inspires individuals beyond their preferences or personalities. The mission unifies the team.
- Reset expectations.
- Language:
- “My hope and expectation is starting Monday the daily update will include….”
- Resetting expectations by clearly stating a deadline is critical. This deadline can be immediate, as in stating, “Moving forward…” or it can be a future date. Having deadlines allows individuals to plan accordingly and not be surprised by their leaders. Using the phrase, “my hope and expectation…” acknowledges that team members have a choice of whether or not they will come on board with the change while also clearly establishing that this is now an expectation.
- Language:
- Clarify boundaries.
- Language:
- “If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me directly.”
- Clarifying boundaries is about teaching others how to interact with you. Including directions for how team members can get their questions answered or their concerns heard is part of cultivating trust and protecting a healthy culture. As a leader, you want to create boundaries that allow you to show up as your best self, allowing others to have the best experience possible when interacting with you.
- Language:
- Thank
- Take every opportunity you have to role model gratitude. Gratitude is one of the many ways resilience can be cultivated within an organization.
Example 2:
A newly hired leader inherits a culture where a lack of standard work, role clarity, and accountability has resulted in some team members showing resistance to the newly hired leader’s expectations around processes, responsibilities, and receiving feedback.
Getting humble, curious, and courageous:
- Choose an appropriate time and setting to connect with the individual.
- Make time so you are not rushed while having this conversation.
- Understanding that people respond differently when they are in front of an audience versus when they are interacting 1:1, choose a setting where being heard and having dialogue is easy.
- Thank them for choosing to meet with you.
- Employees do not have to meet with their leaders. They choose to meet with them. And yes if employees choose to not meet with their leaders, there tend to be consequences…and it is still important to acknowledge individuals for making the right choice…to choose to have conversation.
- State your intention.
- Language:
- “My intention in meeting with you is to better understand what is happening in regard to communication.”
- Stating your intention decreases anxiety. Doing what you can to decrease the anxiety individuals feel is beneficial to you and the relationship. When people are anxious and stressed their ability to hear, understand, and have dialogue is significantly diminished. Do what you can to create an environment that allows for psychological safety and vulnerability.
- Language:
- State your observations.
- Language:
- “I noticed…”
- Stick to the facts. If there is a pattern of behavior, include this in your observations.
- Do not assume anything by saying things like, “I know you are upset….” You don’t know. You need to ask. Being presumptuous about someone’s feelings rarely cultivates vulnerability.
- Language:
- Ask questions.
- Language:
- “What, if anything, is getting in the way of you using the team’s new way of communicating?”
- “How is the team culture impacted if some team members communicate one way while the rest of the team communicates another way?”
- It is amazing how many times we, as leaders, think we have all of the information and yet when we start to ask questions, we realize we hadn’t even considered some of the things that get in people’s way. Being humble and admitting that our perspective is only one way of looking at a situation will prompt the sort of listening that repairs misunderstandings.
- Language:
- Reset expectations.
- Language:
- “My hope and expectation is moving forward you will embrace this new way of communicating, understanding having the team on the same page is critical to our ability to use our resources wisely, like our time and energy, to deliver on our mission.”
- Being clear is being kind. Being consistent builds trust. Connecting back to the mission inspires teams to unify.
- Language:
- Get a commitment, either way.
- Language:
- “Can I count on you?”
- There are individuals who will nod as you speak but mistaking that for agreement would not be wise. They may be nodding because they are acknowledging that they understand the words coming out of your mouth. They may be engaging in active listening, wanting you to continue to talk. However, just because someone nods does not mean they agree. Asking for a commitment invites the individual to clearly commit or clearly not commit to your request.
- Language:
- Thank them and reset expectations again.
- Thanking individuals even if their response is not what you wanted is important because what you really want is for people to keep talking to you. You can still thank someone who is in disagreement with you.
- Language:
- “Thank you for explaining to me why you didn’t communicate the way we as a team are now communicating. Even though we disagree, can I count on you to be on the same page with the company as we make this change?”
- Giving them another opportunity to join the team, shows you care about them and what they have to contribute.
- “Thank you for being honest with me about your being unwilling to embrace my leadership. I honor your decision and know you have given this decision much thought. We need all team members to be on the same page with this. I also want to give you 24 hours to intentionally think about what this decision will mean. Unfortunately, we cannot move forward with having a team member on the team who does not embrace the leadership of the team. Think about whether you are interested in learning more about change management, or if you are interested in looking in the community for other job opportunities.
- Some changes need everyone on board. If individuals cannot get on board, then we need to let them know the situation is not workable. We want them to be clear about the decision they are making and the natural and logical consequences which ensue.
- “Thank you for explaining to me why you didn’t communicate the way we as a team are now communicating. Even though we disagree, can I count on you to be on the same page with the company as we make this change?”
In her book titled Radical Candor, Kim Scott has written about a situation where she is walking her dog and a stranger gives her feedback to her puppy. The puppy is jumping around not listening. The stranger gives a directive to the puppy that Kim herself had been giving. However, when the stranger delivers the directive, the puppy listens. The stranger looks at Kim and says, “it’s not mean, it’s clear.”
Lack of clarity breeds suspicion, anxiety, and employee disengagement. Being clear, flexible, curious, humble and courageous is what is needed in today’s conversations. Being clear about expectations in a kind, firm way establishes boundaries necessary for a team to function properly.
Resetting expectations is part of staying in integrity with the mission and goals of the organization. Understanding that there is nothing wrong with you or your team for having these conversations, in fact, it is beneficial to all involved. What is not helpful, is remaining committed to something just because you said you would. Be curious, be humble, be courageous, be clear and stay agile, holding tightly to your mission and flexible in your approach.
