Situation
If the oil hits the floor, you do what I say. No time to talk – just get on with it.
“If we negotiate, people will think we are weak.”
“You know what contractors are like. When I manage a multi-million rand project on a tight deadline, I have to control them with an iron fist.”
“I wish we could get more out of our new young engineers. They are so talented, and well qualified. But some of them just don’t seem to be fully engaged. They are not bringing their whole selves to work.”
Development
Inclusive leader hired diverse team, gave them real authority and accountability and required them to shift the leadership culture across multiple work teams in engineering, operations and maintenance. Partnered with Mish and Ronnie to put 60 senior and middle managers and technical specialists through three-month programme to develop their ability to hear all the voices in the system, have the hard conversations in a constructive and engaging way, and add a systemic team coaching dimension to their leadership.
Outcome
“People have been constantly in my office to come and share their awesome experience with you. They are literally glowing.”
“I convened a meeting yesterday to iron out differences in a department that reports to me. It so turned out that all of the people attending the workshop had completed your leadership training. This immediately shifted the starting point of the conversation. They themselves said, ‘lets put the issue in front of us and talk about moving to resolution’. The blaming type conversations were completely by-passed. It was so powerful to see in action. “