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“This training is great for my personal life, but this won’t make any difference at work.”
Yikes.
A woman said this to me during the break of the half-day workshop I was doing for a company on using “Yes, And,” to embrace change and to build a “Yes, And” culture.
I was a bit taken aback, but she seemed pleasant in saying this so I pushed down the defensive “yes, but” I felt bubbling up, and asked her to elaborate.
“Well,” she said, “it doesn’t matter what we learn here when our director doesn’t support us at all.”
She went on to explain that her director would often let requests - some that were urgent - linger on his desk for days or weeks, ignoring follow ups and basically “yes, butting” everyone.
I thanked her for her feedback, and also made sure to work in some ways to use “yes, and’ when the people in charge are “yes, butters” during the second half of the workshop. It’s not easy, but it is doable.
This was not the first time I had heard this from an attendee.
An organization will bring me in to help their people embrace change, be more productive, communicate more effectively - be more “yes, and” - and when I get the people in the room they point out how the people who most need to hear this message - the leaders - aren’t there!
Even when I am told that the leaders will be in the program, they often get “busy” and miss the session.
I am sure there are two - or more - sides to every story. But the fact of the matter is that as a leader, you have to lead by example.
- - If you want your people to embrace change, you need to embrace it.
- - If you want your people to be open to feedback, you need to be open to it,too.
- - If you want your people to be innovative, you need to be accepting of new ideas.
- - If you want your people to be more “yes, and,” you need to respond to them with “yes, and.”
It starts at the top. It starts with leadership. It starts with you.
As with my programs, it is quite possible that the people who most need this message won’t see it, so please share it in places they will!
And if you’d like additional help on leading change with “yes, and,” please download my free Change Leadership Playbook.