Pushing Through without Pushing Away
Challenge the comfortable status quo and others resist. However, resistance tests new ideas; it’s healthy. You need to demonstrate and defend their worth.
It takes courage to push through and wisdom to push back without pushing away.
Insecure leaders give in and go along when they experience push back. Unwise leaders create either/or situations; either you’re with me or you’re against me.
Both options:
- Fail to inspire forward movement.
- Create frustration.
- Divert energy and focus.
8 Ways to introduce new ideas:
- Begin with principles rather than positions. Positional discussions place participants on one side of a discussion or the other. You’re either for or against. Begin by embracing clearly articulated business strategies. We’re committed to enhance efficiency, for example. Find agreement by agreeing on big principles, first.
- Include others in the discussion as early and frequently as possible.
- Call everyone to defend new ideas before resisting them. Give them legs before cutting them down. Snap decisions end explorations and curtail curiosity.
- Let others take your idea in new directions. Give them ownership.
- Don’t discuss implementation until new ideas have value. It’s a mistake to use implantation challenges to kill new ideas. Take a “let’s find a way” approach. Don’t ignore implementation issues; postpone them for the sake of discussion.
- Make discussions about ideas not you.
- Bring new ideas to life alongside existing programs. Give them time to prove themselves before minimizing or eliminating what exists. Avoid demonizing the present, when possible.
- Honor what is rather than attacking it. Attacking creates adversaries that resist progress.
Your great ideas languish and die unless you foster collaborative environments that include rather than exclude others.
How can leaders effectively move ideas from introduction to implementation?
people push back because they don’t believe you have addressed what they fear. You must convince them you acknowledge the their concerns before they will release their resistance
Thank you Bill. Great addition to the conversation. Addressing fears eases fears.
One way is create a small win with the new idea. Once the team sees a slice of a result, they’ll get more comfortable with the new approach.
Wish I didn’t say slice. I’m craving pie again.
Thank you Steve.
I’m a huge fan of creating small wins. Pick some low hanging fruit.
Strawberry please!
Very practical and timely advice for me – thank you!
Thank you Diana. Best wishes
Thanks so much for posting about this issue. Very timely advice for me. Finding agreement on the end result, rather than getting bogged down in the details early on, can really help everyone move forward. Starting with the end in mind, and then providing everyone a voice about how to get to that end is so important.
Thank you Passionate. Nicely said. I like how you use the expression “bogged down.” What’s more frustrating that feeling bogged down when you heart is filled with passion for progress.
Keeping the end in mind means we clearly see what progress looks like. Progress powerfully motives.
Hi Dan
Puh – I’m glad you bring up a not-so-sensitive matter like the gender matter! 🙂 even though I must say it is very important.
This post today reminds me that often small steps are smart.
Rome was not buildt on one day. Change take time – certainly if we want people to see the need and be open for change. So also with the gender issue.
I have enjoyed very many of your previous posts on good governance, steward- and leadership. I hope you have received my appreciation. They have come in between my strong outburst on how and why women – also – are good leaders.
I like very much this post today. In particularly # 8 “Honor what is rather than attacking it. Attacking creates adversaries that resist progress.”
That is also a word to myself: be kind Anne-Siri. Be gentle and take care! Thank you.
On the other hand 🙂 I love Winston Churchill quote: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
Sometimes – someone has to stand up for something.
Kindly and respectfully from me
Thank you Anne.
I’ve been one to draw too many lines in the sand too quickly.
It’s true, some will persistently resist forward movement. Some resistors find justification for their resistance because of our own poor leadership. When that happens the conversation can move completely away from central issues and focus on people. The end goal of those conversations is self-justification while proving the other person unworthy or wrong.
My experience indicates that people who have decided you are unworthy seldom say it clearly. They prefer to mask their dissent in more palatable, noble language.
Poor leadership invites these negative interactions; reacting propagates them. In either case they are frequently destructive and distracting.
ALWAYS great take-always in these posts. 8Ways#1, principles rather than position is dead on as I grapple with a manager hell bent on command and control, versus, my belief in collaboration. Your wisdom in this post helps me get my mind around my strategy.
Thank you Philip and best wishes for success.
Another great post. Advice I got a while ago was to address WIFM. What’s in it for me? attitude and thinking of those you are influence and get on board.
Thank you Jeff.
Resistance can come from people who can’t find how they fit into the new system, process, or idea. Show people how they fit in, how they add value, how they will succeed better. Show them the benefits and advantages.
Great post Dan, I think I will post it over my desk to remind me what it takes to move forward. Thank you and have a wonderful Satuday.
Thank you Tina.
I appreciate your encouragement and your passion to develop effective leadership. Best wishes
Thank you Dan and best wishes to you also.
I am a big believer in scaffolding the team and helping create space for big wins. I equate this to interval training for leaders. This week i wrote about this concept, I call “confidence bursts”
“It takes courage to push through and wisdom to push back without pushing away.” Thank you for sharing this, it’s brilliant!
Dan:
Love this. I have found the biggest obstacle to great ideas going anywhere is where they come from. If I bring my ideas to you about your work, I need to let the idea be shaped and refined by you so that it becomes your idea.
Love you posts! How’s the book coming?
John
Such a timely article for Chicks. As I prepare to walk out the door this morning to prepare for a speaking engagement Kim has. She is taking this opportunity to push through some walls that have been built around her from this local church. As she said, if you can’t take the opportunity to address the elephant in the room, the room is going to get pretty stinky, pretty fast. Thank you for a great article!
You had me with ” Start with principles….” This will always bring a team vision instead of competition for ideas..Great Job
Love the title of this post because the title alone causes leaders to think deeply about how to balance pushing through without pushing others away. Great insights as always, Dan!
A useful list, I also like starting with principles – the ‘universal truths’ that everyone agrees is what we want/don’t want. This works very well when determining who needs to be involved, consulted and thus contributing to the decisions and direction being taken.
I would suggest a final add to the list, where the decision once made is communicated & reasons why offered in a transparent, professional way. Sort of a ‘we heard you all, now here is where we need to go’.