The Power of Invitation

Introduction

Transforming a team from Expected to Extraordinary can only be achieved by creating complete emotional acceptance in a statistically important majority of team members. Predictably, team members in a large number of companies are trapped in a paradigm that tends to be risk- and change-averse. Especially companies operating in traditional sectors like manufacturing, banking, pharmaceuticals tend to be very re-active, whilst new-paradigm companies in the realm of software, IT and cyberspace (Apple, Google, e-Bay, etc) tend to attract more flexible people used to operating in new, undefined, spaces.

Traditional businesses face the massive challenge to emotionalize/energize individual team members to start moving into a totally new future. A statistically significant percentage of most traditional top-down managed companies operate in the

Paradigm of Compliance: you tell me what to do and I will execute it to the best of my ability in order to please you and secure my pay cheque.

From Re-Action To Voluntary Action Invite Them!

Hand in hand with the Paradigm of Compliance comes a certain renunciation of responsibility that sounds somewhat like this:

“If the management wants to achieve these crazy new goals that is fine and dandy by me, however, I know that these goals are too high, but they won’t listen to me anyhow, they never do and, what the heck, I’ll just say yes to whatever they demand of me and get on with what I have to do…”

This imaginary rant describes the silent inner dialogue going on in a significant majority of employees across the majority of traditional, risk averse businesses.

 The key to unleashing the full cooperation of each team member is a 6 step process:

  1. Clearly establish the fact with the team members that they have joined this company out of their own free will
  2. Clearly communicate that no one can force them to do anything, that they are fully sovereign individuals operating within a free economy
  3. Clearly state that their presence at this company is highly valued
  4. Now clearly state that the company has a new vision and specific targets that will allow all those who fully cooperate in achieving these to get their due reward.
  5. The vision and the target are non-negotiable!
  6. Now INVITE each and every single team member to be a part of making this reality come true. Those not interested in achieving the target will be invited to please accept the fact that this company has made it’s intentions clear and only wants to work with people who are interested in the new vision.

Emotional Maturity > The Key To Breakthrough
This carefully calibrated strategy leads to a long term attitude shift:

We are a company made up of emotionally mature individuals who have chosen to work for this company out of their own free will. We have also chosen to accept the company’s invitation to come on board of the journey to achieve success and the new vision, fully knowing that for things to change the company and us will undergo wide ranging changes.

The decision to invite the team to achieve the common goal creates a completely different base for the transformational exercise. It allows each team member to step out of a possible re-action thinking (us vs the management) and make an emotionally mature decision to be a part of the change process.

Article written by: Roger Konopasek
Author, International Speaker, Trainer and Transformational Leadership Catalyst."

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