Co-Authored by Mark Kamin, CEO, Marcea Wolf-Carter, Partner & Senior Program Leader,
and Kenda-Le Pernin, Senior Program Leader
In our last blog, An Opportunity: The Crucible of Covid, we left you with a question:
“What new context could you create for yourself and your organization that would displace the future that is uncertain with a future you create?”
Managers and leaders must have a context they generate that calls the people they lead to fulfill something meaningful.*1
The context we created for our company is “being extraordinary no matter what.” That context shapes how our people look at the current circumstances. They got a new pair of eyes! They see the world as an opportunity to be great. Their actions mirror being great. The number of leads generated increased by several hundred percent.
If you want extraordinary performance in the current daunting environment, you will have to lead with the following in mind – People’s performance and actions are always connected to the default way they see things. If you replace the default way they see things with a new context you get an elevated level of performance.*2
Maybe this is the time to make what’s impossible possible?
Winston Churchill said “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
It’s our experience people actually want to be asked to do more than they know they can; especially, when they work in an environment of integrity where performance matters more than organizational politics. The context of making the impossible … possible, can be very empowering for people. (Ex: Kennedy saying “we will go to the moon by the end of this decade.”)
A team in its essence is the environment for people to make a contribution. People will give to a team what money can’t buy:
- Being able to connect performance to people’s desire to be a contribution.
- Being successful in harder times is more meaningful.
- People winning when there is a bigger challenge, has people feel better about themselves in a time where they may be stuck with not being able to make a difference with what is happening in the world.
To summarize, what we are saying is, that if you can develop the ability to generate a context and have a culture of real integrity, it is possible to use the crucible of Covid-19 to build an extraordinary organization. This will have you well positioned to capture market share as the economy turns around.
*1 Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership: An Ontological / Phenomenological Model© Copyright 2008-2016 W. Erhard, M. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide LLC. All rights reserved. 19 November 2016
*2 The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life by Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan
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