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Three Strategies To Break Free From Complacency

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Recently I lead a meeting with one of my clients to present ideas for initiatives moving forward. There were five people in the meeting, but only one person was doing most of the talking. And that person wasn’t me. Every five minutes, this one executive was speaking up constantly – so desperate to be heard that he failed to listen to what we were presenting and the problems we were trying to solve for.

I support positive disruption in meetings and business in general but this was impacting the room negatively. While I appreciated the executive’s willingness to bring his perspectives to the table and contribute, he was completely disconnected from the room. The others felt the negative disruption he created so much no one else would, could, or wanted to express share their ideas even if they had the chance lest they give the same negative impression.

Leeches like this executive get in the way of productive meetings all the time. But the problem today goes beyond the fact that these leeches add little value to the meeting and make it go nowhere fast. The leeches in the room are so eager for the attention and to be heard they bring other people down. There is no environment that allows everyone in the room to have a voice with the understanding that everyone is accountable to contribute to accomplish the goals of the meeting.

But the challenge isn’t just that leeches make it impossible to enable the talent of others in the room. The bigger issue is what happened in this meeting: They let the executive’s influence facilitate complacency among the other executives.

And complacency is the biggest trap affecting companies today.

Complacency leads to compliance, not big thinking.  Complacency widens opportunity gaps, because our thinking is not evolving enough to begin closing those gaps. That's the biggest danger I see in complacency in business every day. One minute people are evolving; the next minute they are being complacent, sometimes not even realizing they are being complacent.

The question becomes how do you break free from this complacency?

1.  Allow Others To Have Influence

Many businesses and leaders say that they want their people to have more influence, but they are not letting go enough. As a result, despite or perhaps in spite of their best intentions to foster a culture of diverse thinkers, companies more often than not seek to control the performance of their employees based on outdated ways of thinking. They play it safe, conforming to existing workplace engagement practices and fostering that “I just do what I am told” approach. No one sees or goes after more than the obvious opportunities. Who needs to use “circular vision” to anticipate the unexpected? Who needs to appreciate or pay attention to their people and their individual efforts? Everyone just keep doing what you are told.

That’s what happens when other individuals in the room don’t believe that they have the influence. I don’t think that executive was aware of the negative disruption he was creating.  He thought he was sharing his perspective. And he was. The problem was he was welcoming diversity of thought and as a consequence he led others down a path of complacency as he enabled the group towards solving for the wrong opportunities.

What this leader needed to do was listen and be wise, vulnerable, and courageous enough to allow others to have influence. Yes, historically, being vulnerable as leader was viewed as a sign of weakness. But in today’s business climate, the speed of change forces us as leaders to bring others into the fold, much quicker. Let’s face it, no one has all the answers – and when we think that we do, the marketplace tells us otherwise.

2.  Challenge The Status Quo

Leaders cultivate wisdom in others when they genuinely respect differences and those who disrupt the status quo for the betterment of a healthier whole – not negative disruption, which leads to complacency. If we are not moving forward in the right ways then we are actually widening the gaps even if we think we are doing the things were supposed to do to close them. While the executive in the meeting thought he was moving the conversation forward, he was unknowingly forcing everyone to fall into the trap of complacency. As a result, no one in the company has the courage to challenge the status quo.   He was unknowingly creating tension.

This doesn’t just happen in meetings. For example, it happens when there is a leadership change at a company. Instead of seeing the opportunity to move forward, they wait and seek permission because they know that the new boss will view the world differently than the previous boss. There is almost a sense of fear that forces an employee’s potential to get lost. They are so focused on what they think leadership wants them to be, they forget what they seek to be themselves. Instead, they desperately seek the permission of others to act. When they wait for the leader to give permission (instead of giving themselves permission), they grow complacent with their own intentions and thus weaken their ability to evolve and contribute to the right solve.

3.  Be Natural Explorers

My father would always ask me after speaking with him every day after work, “Did you see possibilities that you didn’t even know existed? If not, keep going, son! Keep going!” At first, I didn’t understand what he meant but he kept asking me every day – every day. And then I realized it: His goal was to make sure that I always took ownership of everything I did. He wanted me to own what I did and maximize my influence through those passionate pursuits – he wanted me to be a “natural explorer” in search of new ways of doing things.

We need to explore. To do this, you have to explore your environment and learn to lead through it and then get other leaders to engage so that you can ultimately lead through it together. That doesn’t just mean the people on your team but anything or anyone your leadership touches. To own this, you have to think and be mindful of others. You also need wisdom – and courage – just like the explorers who first set off around the globe. When you are in exploration mode you may be moving forward or side-to-side but you never go backwards. You put yourself in a position to create influence rather than falling into the traps of complacency.

Apply these three strategies and you will be a lifter not a leech. It’s time to move people (not just bottom lines) forward.  Break free from complacency to help your business, brand and employees drive growth in the marketplace and workplace.

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