As you have noticed from my blogs, they are all designed to spark thinking. For all change starts with a change in thinking. You can not change on the outside long-term if you don't change on the inside. They go hand in hand.
The other day someone was telling me about what kind of team they wanted at work. He knew exactly how they wanted it to operate. He wanted a team that operated with a high degree of accountability, respect, and accuracy. I asked him what he was doing to make that "culture" happen, and he told me he couldn't make the culture change because he didn't have the right people. His solution was to keep firing people and hiring new people- which he had been doing for over 3 years!
In his mind, he didn't have the right people. The real problem isn't the people, it is the thinking that is now infiltrated in to that department. Imagine if you are one of those team members. What they are seeing is that you stick your nose in your job and just protect it because you could be axed. So problems become buried because no one wants to be the one fired. He is actually creating a culture of fear rather than a culture of accountability.
You see the message that is sent when you fire people rather than work on changing what needs to be changed is that "you are dispensible so don't disrupt the flow."
If you want to manifest the changes you want, you need to start with YOU. Anything you see happening around you that you don't want to be a part of figure out what you are doing to contribute to it. I know this manager doesn't see what he is doing that is causing this but instead is focusing outward on "I just need the right people."
So here is a great line to ponder: You don't get in life what you want; you get in life what you are.
Make sure you ARE what you WANT.
Anne Warfield
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