A635.8.3.RB - Transformational Strategies

A635.8.3.RB - Transformational Strategies

This statement from Stanley McChrystal, “If you’re a leader, the people who count on you need you on your feet.” is applicable in both of these videos. When the furniture store faced the recession of 2008 and the subsequent fire and lost so much business and time – the employees looked to Jim McIngvale for answers. He needed to be on his feet, hustling, looking for ways to stay afloat. This is of course a lesser situation than perhaps McChrystal faced in the heat of actual battle in Afghanistan in the years after 9/11/2001, but as leaders, they both needed to be on their feet, even when they got knocked down, to show the people who followed them how to move forward. 

McIngvale got creative with his employees and saw that they would need to combat the existing culture with some new processes. He forced people out of their comfort zones and created a better sales force. He mentioned that most people didn’t like to “prospect” for sales. But he brought in trainers, people who could show them the right (effective) way to prospect and how to find out what their customer truly wanted. He also increased annual sales by about $600k and saved about $1 million a year simply by having his team approach customers and acknowledge them in some way. Just reaching out to say “hello!” or “Welcome!” made it a much more personal experience for people. (Vital Smarts, 2012) Organizational transformation (OT)…may be defined as drastic, abrupt change to total structures, managerial processes, and corporate cultures. (Brown, 2011) McIngvale needed to completely adapt to new economic challenges that he’d never faced before. He invested in a program (Influencer) fully and his employees had to trust that this program was going to save their business. They all had to commit to this program 100% in order for it to work. I think maybe the true influence was from the leader walked the walk and took the initiative to heart. An effective vision should be challenging, inspiring, and aimed at empowering people at all levels. (Brown, 2011)

McChrystal also talked about having to build a consensus, a sense of shared purpose, and a shared consciousness across many people and across many different media. His team was spread between age groups and continents which made communicating and motivating his team even more difficult. (McChrystal, 2011) Doing battle in Afghanistan and doing corporate battle are only close in theory. Businesses fight every day to stay relevant and competitive – militaries fight for a way of life and to keep those who cannot fight for themselves safe from those who would take advantage. But each team needs to have that sense of shared purpose and a shared consciousness to be successful. When a leader isn’t trusted or isn’t willing to learn and trust their employees (soldiers), they can only make people move forward with words instead of leading people who want to move forward because they understand what part they have to play in the overall plan. A strong culture is characterized by the organization’s basic values being intensely held and widely shared... [t]he more members share the basic values and the greater their commitment to them, the stronger the culture. (Brown, 2011) It would be a different world if more leaders knew this – or understood this above all else. Ego truly has no place in leadership; only the desire to build people up to accomplish seemingly impossible things.

References:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

McChrystal, S. (2011). Listen, learn…and then lead. Ted.com. https://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal#t-538447

Vital Smarts. (2012). Influencer - Gallery Furniture video case study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E20RW75Fhu4