Nothing tests your leadership quite like guiding a team through change. Forging into the unknown requires both vision and a plan, but Patti Sanchez, the chief strategy officer at Duarte, writes that leaders also need empathy. She describes helping a CEO create a communication plan about organizational change that included interviewing employees to understand their mindsets. That allowed the CEO to tailor her communications to what employees were thinking and feeling.

Change doesn’t happen overnight, especially when it comes to how you work. We asked writer Rebecca Knight to gather some expert advice on how to manage someone who is totally disorganized. The first thing to do, she found, is to make sure the person understands the consequences of not being on top of emails, meetings, and paperwork. Then you need to help them adopt new organization systems. The experts recommend being patient, since progress takes time, and celebrating even small achievements.

We had an interesting piece last week from leadership guru Roger Martin on what a board’s role should, and should not, be when it comes to strategy. He doesn’t mince words: “If the board feels it needs to do strategy for the company, it is prima facie evidence that it should fire the CEO.” Roger says formulating the strategy through an iterative process is the CEO’s job — the board’s is to offer insights and advice.

If you’re still polishing your list of New Year’s resolutions, you might want to think about what to stop doing before setting new goals. Time management coach Elizabeth Grace Saunders writes that you can’t grow without making the space to do so — which means quitting old activities that are no longer a good use of your time.

Another way to achieve your goals this year? Forget about being perfect. Looking at four decades of studies on perfectionism, researchers found that super-high standards can be beneficial — but they aren’t all that constructive at work.

Thanks for reading,
Maureen

 

Source: The Insider: Dealing with Change