Learning to Love What
You Hate
Two videos,
two leaders, two very different industries; yet, a tale of learning to love
what one hates emerges as each leader tells his story. Jim McIngvale is the
owner of a now thirty-five-year-old Houston based furniture store. Stanley
McChrystal is now a 51-year-old, former four-star Army General, tasked with
leading forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because of circumstances beyond their
control, each leader reached a turning point with their leadership where those
counting on them, needed their leaders on their feet; and, the leaders needed
to learn the people they counted on would help (TED2011, 2011; VitalSmarts
Video, 2012).
In 2008,
economic forces caused the Houston housing market to crash from 60,000 to
15,000 new houses per year (Vital Smarts Video, 2012). A 75% drop in business, followed
by a $30 million fire the next year, is what McChrystal would characterize as a
knock down, that hurts and leaves scars (TED2011, 2011; VitalSmarts Video,
2012). McChrystal faced his own changes on a clear, blue September morning that
began with a simple routine paratrooper jump, while our nation was at peace,
and ended with a landing that not once in thirty years had mirrored the five
points of performance taught to generations of jumpers (TED2011, 2011). Long
gone was the idea of traditional leaders who emulated traits of good leaders. Theory
had turned to reality; and, in McChrystal’s own words, “Things had changed so
much” (TED2011, 2011).
Brown (2011) provides an
explanation, complete with visual graphics, regarding a strong versus a weak
culture and how understanding the strategy for change relates to the
organization’s culture. Based on the information provided by both McIngvale and
McChrystal, it is easy to see the strong culture that existed at Gallery
Furniture as well as the indomitable strong culture of the U.S. Army, and other
branches of our military. For years, as McIngvale explains, his salespersons
watched as customers left the store, without buying, and without any follow-up
from the salesperson. Prospecting was a task everyone hated. Delivery
inconveniences mattered not and company wellness; both fiscally and physically
was a concept (VitalSmarts Video, 2012). Based on Brown’s (2011) graph, the
degree of member commitment to values and the number of members sharing values
is directly correlated to the existing culture. With his company literally in
ashes, McIngvale was willing to learn and trust lessons outlined in a simple
book. McChrystal did not have a book.
McChrystal faced leading a force of
many who were sixth graders on September 11, 2001. He commanded a force that
spanned twenty nations. When failure occurred, unlike his commander who had
offered encouraging words in a face-to-face setting, he couldn’t put a hand on
the shoulder of his young soldiers. His military, one that gave orders and
expected execution without question, had transitioned to one of consensus
building. He calls the change an “inversion of expertise” where what he and
others grew up doing was no longer followed by today’s force (TED2011, 2011). A
reverse order also took place, whereby commanders listen to those of lesser
rank. As I listened to each tale and read Brown’s (2011) “four basic
alternatives in determining strategy changes”, it became clear to me how each
leader faced the hurt and lead their people to success (p. 406).
Both McIngvale and McChrystal
proposed and followed changes easily described as “incompatible with the
entrenched corporate culture” (p. 407). By changing its strategy, Gallery
Furniture realized $3 to $4 hundred thousand in added sales each month because
its sales force began to follow up with customers. They learned new technology,
posted data, provided coaching and incentives, began prospecting, a task all
hated, and rewarded the desired behavior by simply ringing a bell. By
re-working a delivery system that presented as many as 30 issues per day to one
or two, immeasurable, positive customer service has occurred. Finally, a
company-wide wellness program helps to add to the internal and external
friendly atmosphere because workers have a better sense and feeling of
well-being and its shows (VitalSmarts Video, 2012). Would any of this have
occurred absent the economic downturn and fire? McChrystal faced an entrenched
culture characterized by his own jokes; the military is all about hurry up and
wait and the Air Force teaches the Army how to wait. His recall of leaders like
Robert E. Lee and Buford from Gettysburg paints a portrait of the commanders
who rarely spoke to soldiers of lower rank, except to offer criticism. Today,
McChrystal faces a world where a fellow commander watches a real-time firefight
unfold on a television screen, knowing his son is in the battle (TED2011,
2011). Yet, with his own words, McChrystal knows “theory turned to reality” on
September 11, 2001; and, he and others faced teaching many who did not have the
sense of shared purpose many shared through decades of military service (TED,
2011, 2011). Each leader, McIngvale and McChrystal learned to do that which
they hated, were willing to learn and trust, and were able to pass on this
change to cultures that had been established for many years. The risk, losing a
business, or losing the life of a young soldier, was not acceptable.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
TED2011. (2011, Mar.). Listen,
learn… then lead. [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal
VitalSmarts Video. (2012, Sept.
17). Influencer | Gallery Furniture Video Case Study. [Video
File].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E20RW75Fhu4
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