Ron Johnson is not off to a good beginning. The former Apple retail leader is now CEO of J. C. Penney. The most recent quarterly results are not encouraging. After making wide, sweeping changes, same store sales have dropped 26 percent and stock prices are at a three-year low.
Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, is attempting a turnaround at Hewlett-Packard. The challenge is daunting. Though she has a long-term strategy in place, many people believe she is moving too slowly.
A pastor of a large church recently resigned after leading the congregation in several major changes. Attendance at the church dropped precipitously as many members voted against the changes with their feet.
At another large church just 20 miles away, the pastor is moving so slowly that people are also moving out. They are waiting on this leader to provide visionary leadership, but he is simply too reticent to move forward.
Volumes have been written on change, the pace of change and the consequences of change. In simplest terms, leaders move at a perfect pace, too slowly or too rapidly. In this brief article, I address what fast-paced leaders should consider.
I offer five basic issues these leaders should grasp.
1. Understand the Change Tolerance of Those Directly Impacted.
Some fast-paced leaders look at the organization only from their perspective. They fail to put themselves in others’ shoes to consider what this change might feel like to those directly impacted.
These aggressive leaders need to ask more questions and listen more carefully. They may be surprised to hear how those directly impacted will respond to the proposed changes.
2. Understand Change Tolerance Is Contextually Driven.
I have seen too many leaders move to a new area and assume change tolerance would be very close to their previous place of leadership. If they came from an organization that dealt well with change, they might assume the same leadership pace would work at the new organization.
Unfortunately, many leaders have been burned when they discover their assumptions to be wrong. Many contextual factors affect the tolerance level of change.
Again, it is incumbent upon leaders to know their contexts and how to lead in those contexts. Listening to the stories of those in the organization is vital to this process.
