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Let's Unthink And Rethink This...
...and to get us started, I'll put the bottom line up front: This is about you more than it's about colleagues, situations, or techniques. Let's see how and why.
You have a job to do and it doesn't always match what colleagues do.
When you'd change something, when you'd do something different to get a better result, colleagues might not. They don't see what you see. Their aims are different than yours. They're supposed to be different because their jobs are different.
But how does change happen when you see the logic of change and colleagues see the logic of not-change? You might try convincing them to see something differently. They might object citing time, effort, tools, skill, disruption, uncertainty, and risk. You explain how the upsides of change will outweigh the downsides - and you're in a logic loop. Arguments are valid both ways. Truths on both sides are real.
Is there another way?
What if you changed the conversation so colleagues changed their own minds? This is surprisingly easier than you think, you already have strengths we'd use, and I can show you how. But there's a catch. To change the conversation to change minds doesn't mean just colleagues. It means you, too.
Why would that be? You're expert at [fill in the blank] and know what needs done. Colleagues need to - use your words - [think this through, take a broader view, stop the knee-jerk reactions…] and that's why you [explain, demonstrate, inform, educate, persuade, convince...]
All true. But when you're on the receiving end of this business, does it work for you? Does it feel like it should work? Or, if you've ever worked for a leader who could get everyone on the same page, whose page was it? Was it his or hers? Was it anyone's? Or did a same-page emerge from the own-pages each person was on?
It emerged because everyone, including the leader, was willing to learn from the team. To change what they saw in a situation when they learned something new. To change how they made sense of what they saw. To change what they'd do, toward some end. You can lead conversations that way, no matter what your role is.
To get started, make a commitment to yourself that you'll learn what to see, not just what to say. That you want to use your judgment, not just a script. I'll give you a map and compass and show you how to use them so you can make your way through any situation. So you can help colleagues make their way. Follow me if that sounds right for you.
