Good Leaders – Can you handle the disruption of your dreams?

Human beings are preoccupied with growth. It applies to individuals and the organizations we build. If you’re not sure about how you feel about growth, consider how it feels to shrink. Unless we’re talking about weight loss… shrinking doesn’t feel very good. We’re programmed to look upward, into the future and envision “the next level” of our lives. When we stop looking ahead, we get stuck.

Here’s the thing about organizational growth – incremental progress bores most leaders. CEOs in particular always have a transformational vision for what the next level of their firm will look like. Research by the Association for Corporate Growth confirms that fact by claiming that 2/3rds of mid-sized companies in America have a “business transformation strategy” in place at any given time.

Transformation is disruptive

Here’s the problem: research by the management consulting firm McKinsey confirms only 26% of those business transformation strategies create the financial results by the date the owners and shareholders expected. The reason behind the failure? Executive teams don’t know how to manage the disruption required to reach the next level.

Recall how disruption caused when you took these basic leaps in your life: stepping up from elementary to middle school, or high school to college. Or moving from one neighborhood to another – or one city to another. Exciting? Yes! Also messy. Some kids handle the messiness better than others. Some families handle the disruption better than others.

Managing the messiness

Our mission is to spread the idea that goodness pays in leadership and business. Goodness is when people thrive together in a culture of encouragement, accountability, and positive teamwork. Good leaders know how to help people thrive together, especially in times of disruptive change.

We’re dedicating the future of our firm, Good Leadership, to coaching executive teams through the messiness caused by the disruptive side of transformation. We will help you beat the 26% odds by finding the one special thing to get your team through the “eye of the needle” that creates the prosperous future you imagine. It’s all based on the research from our signature book How Goodness Pays. Take a moment to see the new web site and brand design direction. Send me a note if you want to learn more about how the Goodness Pays Leadership System© can help you reach the next level.

More goodness to come

Next week, I have a new book to share with you. It’s called Breakthrough to Goodness – the story of how Jodi Harpstead’s CEO leadership style produces unprecedented growth and prosperity for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.