Not a contradiction, as we often experience: When people work (together) with motivation and energy, the required skills and strengths on relevant topics that make sense to them, great performance can unfold; even with joy and quality.
First of all, we need the clearest possible understanding of what we want to achieve and why, at all levels of a company. Especially if we want to develop our business further (new products / services, processes, business models, etc.) this usually means change. In the vast majority of cases, we need to do things differently and redesign the way we work (together).
To achieve this it is important to understand that at the end of the day it is the people in our organizations who deliver the results, each and every one of them! In a functional and system-theoretical view, this is very well expressed in the “Integrated Management System” (IMS)® of. It gives good orientation for the right design of management processes. But if we only consider this “rational” side, we waste a lot of potential for excellent performance and satisfaction.
The American philosopher Dan Dennett describes it like this:
“The conscious mind of man is like a government spokesman who has to announce decisions that he was not present when they were made, nor does he know the true reasons for them.”
This unconscious, emotional side of people plays a crucial role in the powerful implementation of strategies. What helps managers to take this side into account even better? What can a holistic approach look like?
Direction & Orientation
The foundation is a shared understanding of the meaning & purpose of the organization, our mission and long-term goals. These can be translated into key initiatives, meaningful and tangible goals, desired outcomes and indicators for feedback. There are helpful approaches to this, whether from systems theory or other management philosophies (Ikigai, Hoshin Kanri, OKR, etc.). Crucial here is horizontal and vertical participation & involvement of managers and employees.
Compelling & inspiring story (narrative)
We appeal to the emotional side of people by communicating necessity, creating a sense of purpose, and making the project perceived as feasible. People want to be invited to participate and become part of the success. A good story prepares our decision whether and how we want to get involved! The power of a good story shows itself again and again, regardless of the challenges. It is definitely an essential building block of leadership to address people emotionally as well, to make them curious and to meet their primal human needs for belonging and self-worth.
Strengthen conscious action and self-leadership
In addition to the skills needed to perform our tasks, we need even more: the ability to become aware of our own personal obstacles, emotions, fears and needs and to deal with them well. These “human skills” are what allow us to work together even more constructively and to live personal responsibility. In doing so, it is important to respect our emotions and to use them as a wake-up call in order to have the opportunity to get back into constructive, conscious action. There are easy-to-learn methods for this today – is one that allows entire organizations to learn this skill with minimal time investment. In doing so, they find a common language that makes this emotional side “discussable”. Thus, it creates the foundation for significantly stronger performance that people can enjoy and quality.
It is this triad, the interplay of the three elements outlined, that makes a difference and enables great performance and satisfaction. Of course, these must be flanked by good training, management processes, regular feedback sessions, etc. If you as a manager want to support people, for example in a transformation, to be able to unleash their full power and energy, you are well advised to actively shape this interplay and consistently exemplify it in everyday life.
Taking on more responsibility
With our customers, we have seen what this makes possible. It is often also a process that takes time, from the strategic decisions to the commitment of each and every individual. But as the process unfolds, more and more people take on more and more responsibility, and discuss issues that were not possible before. It is not uncommon for them to achieve results that are 30% better than before.
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