"I don't care what the project is, I'm not committing to anything until the budget is worked out!" We've all heard that one. Or how about, "I know what the boss said but when it comes time to account for sales it is going to be me, not you, I'm not doing it!" Ever heard a tirade like that before? Both of those attitudes and the many that go with them will kill your project.
Leadership is a lost art in today's world. It's tough to hold any one accountable. My goodness we have to go back to ancient times to find our way out of the fog of irresponsibility running wild today. So what can we do? We can lead the Three Musketeers way. We can lead with a mindset that says, "All for one and one for all!"
One of the problems is that we live in a free agent world. We live in the age of the individual and that extends to their leadership. It's cool to be the Lone Ranger but not if that's not your job. We need balance and accountability. We need the Three Musketeers. They had honor and went about restoring the old code... the one that worked.
What does that mean? I learned what it means first hand as a Marine sniper in Vietnam. We worked in teams of two to five snipers. When you are alone and thirty miles from anybody 'nice' you better have somebody next to you that isn't going to say, "It's not my job." You'd better be 'all for one'. And it didn't stop there. We needed support from artillery, from Marine air, from Marine grunts if we got into trouble - you lived or died by an 'all for one' philosophy.
On the other hand what does it mean to be 'one for all'? It means me; the individual Marine wasn't bigger than the mission. We all existed to support the bigger effort. It was simple - all for one and one for all. That's what builds teams, not some offsite walking on fire like Burger King did when they sent half of their marketing department to the emergency room.
It sounds corny but it is the simplest way to understand what it means to be part of a real team. A real teammate doesn't say "It ain't happening in my department". They see the bigger whole. And real leaders will not let their direct reports get away with that kind of behavior. When leading change you can't blow an uncertain trumpet, you have to let people clearly know the objective and then leaders need to support achieving it. And God forbid, you have to hold people accountable at each step of the way.
It isn't about the old adage of "I'm in sales and WE make the world go around". More sales people use that excuse to not be held accountable for anything outside of their bottom line number than you can count. Of course it takes a sale to make something happen. We get it! But it also takes a customer service agent, a delivery, somebody to make it and you get the picture, a team. And if you want to be a great team you'll be a Three Musketeer.
You as the change leader must take charge. You must set the standard with the driver, the sponsor of the change, when you take the job as the change leader. Once there is alignment at that level you cannot waver. You're entire leadership must be 'all for one and one for all'.
When Gandhi led the Indian people out of British bondage he was a living example of the change he was driving. He was the message. He lived the often repeated, "You must become the change you wish to see in the world." You must do that too and you will succeed at leading change.
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