#1: The Resistor – “This will never work.”, “We tried this before.”, “It will fail like all the other times.”
How to vanquish: Be curious. Explore their experiences. Understand what they noticed then and what they are assuming now. When you’ve exhausted the treasure trove of information they have to offer, ask them what they think might work.
#2: The Influencer – The thinking, collaboration and innovation starts off slightly left of the strategic center and starts to bend the organization away from your vision and towards their own personal version of reality.
How to vanquish: Ensure leadership has a common definition of the mission, vision and strategy of your organization. Test decisions and directions routinely against the strategic path and be transparent about divergence from it. “I notice this puts us on a different timeline than we agreed to. What is the value of that? What new metrics would we need to agree on for that to work?”
#3: The Lone Ranger – The Lone Ranger thinks she knows what’s best, will gather a merry marauding band behind her and set out onto the open road to accomplish what clearly only she can.
How to vanquish: Have the ole “there’s no I in TEAM” speech, set your expectations regarding their role in the execution of your strategy and tell them there will be consequences if they attempt to mutiny again. Be willing to let them go.
#4: The Mascot – Helping the mascot be successful feels sort of like pushing a little old lady into traffic while breaking your mother’s heart. The Mascot is the great defender of organizational legacy.
How to vanquish: Do an organ transplant. Either get consent from the mascot to remove the legacy flag and replace it with the current and future flags or invite them to transplant themselves elsewhere. Tough stuff.
Be Uncommon.
Everything you need to become everything you want