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Skyline Business School |
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Skyline Business School |
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Issue:6
Tipping Point Leadership
Management researchers have long been fascinated by what triggers high performance or
brings life to an ailing organization. How can you catapult your organization to high
performance when time and money are scarce? What does it take to turnaround an
organization? How can managers achieve high performance in an organization wedded to the
status quo, having limited resources, de-motivated staff or/and opposition from powerful
vested interests?
The article explores the concept of Tipping Point Leadership and how it can bring about
organizational change. The theory of tipping points rests on the argument that change
comes about quickly in an organization once the beliefs and energies of a critical mass of
people are engaged.
A change can be brought about only by leaders/change agents who generate commitment by
organization's key players, silence the naysayers and above all make
unforgettable and unarguable calls for change. Success lies in bringing about a turnaround
with limited resources. It is more on how the leader approaches change and not just on the
personality of the leader. In other words, Tipping Point Leadership is learnable.
Tipping point leadership is all about overcoming four hurdles:
Cognitive Hurdle, Resource Hurdle, Motivational Hurdle and Political Hurdle.
Break through the cognitive hurdle:
One of the most difficult things is to make people agree to the need
for change.
All forms of change are resisted by organizational members for various reasons. Most CEO's
try to point at numbers and insist the need for the organization to achieve better ones.
Unfortunately, a message communicated through numbers does not stick with people. For most
employees, the case for change seems abstract and remote. Departments/units doing well do
not feel the need for change. Others believe that change is something that happens at the
top.
In every change lies the need to break through the cognitive hurdle.
Tipping point leaders do not rely on numbers. Instead, they break through the cognitive
hurdle by putting key managers face to face with operational problems so they understand
reality. Poor performance becomes something they witness rather than hear about.
The message that is communicated is that turnaround is not only something that is needed
but something that is achievable. Tipping point leaders reinforce direct experiences that
instill the need for change. Internal communication also plays a key role in breaking
through cognitive hurdle.
Side step the Resource Hurdle:
Organizations have scarce resources - a reality no leader can evade.
Change demands resources. Most CEO's deal with limited resources in two ways, trim their
ambitions or fight for more resources from their bankers and other stakeholders. Tipping
Leadership, on the other hand, involves bringing about rapid, dramatic and lasting change
with limited resources. These leaders know how to reach the organization's tipping point
without extra resources.
Successful leaders do not need extra resources to reach the tipping point. They
concentrate resources where the need and the likely payoffs are greatest.
Jump the Motivational Hurdle:
Once employees identify the need for change and how it can be achieved with limited
resources, they must now want to bring about the change. Motivation is critical for a
change to become a movement in the organization.
Most CEO's understand the importance of motivation but they make the mistake of trying to
change incentives throughout the organization. This process, however, is time consuming
and expensive.
One way to overcome the motivation hurdle is to influence key people inside and outside
the organization. People with disproportionate power due to their connections and ability
to persuade others.
These people are like kingpins in bowling: When you hit them just right, all the pins
topple. Motivating key influences saves the task of the organization to motivate each
employee individually. Yet the end objective of motivation is achieved. It is not
difficult to identify key influences in any organization and motivate them. These
influencers can also help in introducing a culture of performance in the organization by
setting clear performance expectations. The key point in any turnaround is; unless people
believe that results are attainable, a turnaround is unlikely to succeed.
Knock over the political hurdle:
Organizational politics is an inescapable part of corporate life. Change is always
resisted by people with powerful vested interests.
Hence even if the above three hurdles are overcome change is unlikely to succeed till
political hurdle is dealt with. The motivational and political hurdles prevent a
strategy's rapid execution.
It is important to identify the nay Sayers in the organization and deal with them before
change is implemented.
Turning around an organization requires collective action, however, the leader can and
does make all the difference. Success can be achieved by tipping the four hurdles
described in this article. Overcoming the hurdles, of course, is a continuous process
because constant innovation is the call of the day. Organizations that do not continuously
change and upgrade will not survive.
Reviewed from Harvard Business Review
- April 2003
by Mrs. Anuradha Gaba,
Faculty, Organisation Behaviour & Human Resource Management
Comments and questions: info@skylinecollege.com
URL: http://www.skylinecollege.com
