About two hours after my last post on changing the IT organization, I realized I had started from articles on strategic change to go toward tactical moves in team change, but I hadn't talked about the real place to start: with oneself. Possibly the most important lesson for any manager is that you cannot change another person; you can only change the situation for that person in the context in which you have influence. He/she must then determine that change is necessary and that effort will be taken to achieve the change.
And yet we talk about change as something that can be imposed on an organization from above. Task forces are convened to create pithy messages and educate everyone on why change is great and life will be better. Perhaps goals and rewards will be realigned to provide incentives for "getting on the bus." And these are necessary, but cannot be the end of the story. At the end of the day, each person will look to his/her immediate supervisor and teammates for leadership by example, and that's where change really needs to happen.
Too often we get either overly satisfied or complancent with our own behaviors, routines, and ultimately performance. Then, when something comes along to shake that up, we double down on "how it's always been done", making any effort to improve that much more challenging. This isn't because people are bad or lazy; it's just who we are. We are creatures of habit, and breaking habits is very difficult. But hard doesn't equal "shouldn't be done." If people are looking to you to set an example (regardless of position in the hierarchy), you need to ensure you are doing your part to help yourself and your team.
The key is understanding what change is necessary and committing to changing yourself appropriately to support the overall effort. This doesn't mean suppressing your nature or "not being yourself" - instead, find ways to integrate new behaviors with old so that you can still be comfortable with how you present yourself and interact with others. This also likely means asking questions of others to gain clarity, requesting (and receiving) candid constructive criticism, and being very conscious of your actions on an ongoing basis. You may not like the answers you get and may resent those who give them. You will almost certainly find yourself a little drained from the effort of always watching and checking yourself.
Again, none of this is easy to do, and very few of us are born leaders with the requisite talents and skills to guide others toward an improved situation. But people can tell when you're working to change, and will both appreciate your effort and start thinking about their own changes to make. We all lead others in some way, and we all have people who take their cues from us, so are you going to let them (and yourself) down?
