A leader of a large department was frustrated — and stuck. The organization had decided to merge with another firm. Answers from the top were slow in coming.
But leading a strategy from the MIDDLE requires you to keep making decisions when everything IS NOT spelled out.
And in my work with organizations driving a new direction, I’ve found that even the best strategy will FAIL if people are confused, skeptical, or not aligned.
This was a NEW day. With a NEW strategy and a NEW vision AND a NEW set of bosses sprinkled in the mix. This (otherwise very confident) individual was striving to lead a strategy she actually believed in — but was leading from the middle where authority was murky.
She knew that not being aligned has consequences on commitments to customers and employees and suppliers — and ultimately, on results.
So what can you do if you are launching a new strategy but want to keep the organization running while you shift direction?
How do you help those who “lead from the middle” (whatever title they might hold) be able to move forward and get stuff done?
Here are three things I’ve found work:
1-Communicate very clearly the WHY for this new strategy. Don’t just share the whizzy vision but discuss specifically the problems you want to tackle with this strategy and the outcomes you’re striving for.
2- Clarify what is NOT changing. Sometimes new strategies are launched with so much fanfare and pomp that it sounds like a moonshot! Clarify what your new direction IS and what it IS NOT to help leaders navigate — even while the ship is still turning.
3- Be very clear about what your organization VALUES and how that supports the new strategy. If you give those who lead from the middle the authority to make decisions that ALIGN with those values — how bad can their on-the-ground on-the-fly decisions be?
Whatever you can do to help these leaders in the MIDDLE comfortably continue to make day-to-day decisions — even as you shift the direction of the organization as a whole — will reduce confusion and speed the implementation and impact of your new strategy.
What do you think? Have you ever been part of an organization shifting direction and felt like you weren’t in sync? Welcome your thoughts and lessons learned.
