Just posted on EQ Planet, my podcast, an interview with Alan Deustchman, author of Change or Die.
Deutschman explains what it really takes to get people and businesses to change — no surprise, it takes emotional intelligence as well as strategic brilliance and some luck. The secret is to move away from the old paradigm of force, facts, and fear — and replace it with relationships that inspire hope.
I’d be interested in hearing how you think mid-level program managers can “inspire” top-level to act/work/think with more emotional intelligence…especially passive/agressive perfectionistic old-school ones.
Wow Anne – tough question! Those “PAPOSO” seem like they REFUSE change. I wonder why? Resistance is about fear and mistrust. What do they fear? What do they distrust? I wonder if there’s a way to sooth that so they become more open.
Also, as Deutschman says in the interview, one major reason people stop change is that they feel hopeless. “We’ve already tried all that and it just didn’t work.” What would it take for the PAPOSOs to have more hope?
Generally when I work w people I want them to start by clarifying that “yes, I/we want/need change” – probably the PAPOSO tend to say, “heck yes we need change – we need the tots like Anne to get with the program and stop rocking the boat!” But just maybe there are other changes they’d like to see. Maybe there are some suboptimal outcomes in the organization?
Focusing on purpose is KEY. Is the organization fully meeting its visionary purpose? Does everyone agree that the purpose is worthwhile? If so, how can we meet that more effectively?
Thanks for asking!
🙂
– Josh