Business, politics, and religion all have so much in common. Hard to believe right?
If you don’t have popular support (or a great majority of support) for your programs, you will probably have a battle on your hands. When the minority feels strongly enough about something, a call for change starts to happen. In the major wars of the past couple hundred years ie. Revolutionary, Civil, Spanish, WWI, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq there was a small margin of approval—maybe not even a majority. Or take a look at the Japanese industrial revolution in which a minority of the population led to change. A few copied Juran and Deming’s ideals for Quality Management and now it is the world’s mantra. Religious Reformations are another example (for another day).
My point is that in our business, a few want to change and are hoping for improvement. Often a large number of people fight for the status quo. They like to stick to what they know. If you are the change agent, it is very helpful to have a coalition and get everyone involved. It can take some persuasion and it may not come easy. But just because no one follows at first does not mean it is wrong.
Change is not simple but as leaders you need to think about the opportunities for improvement. And maintain a very positive attitude! It’s easier for people to follow someone who believes that the change is GOOD, the change is RIGHT and the change will WORK. I am a student of the Pygmalion effect—if you believe, it will happen. Things seldom improve if you don’t change. In fact, if you don’t change, you risk a slide backwards into failure.
Great leaders want a majority to support them but to let’s be honest for a minute : leadership and decisions are not a popularity contest. But success is always popular. Embrace the Change:
[1] Support the initiatives
[2] Involve your people
[3] Listen to the obstacles
[4] Address the obstacles
[5] Make decisions based on data AND is in the best interest of your people and the customer