CEO Leadership Best Practices Journal™

Transforming Great Vision into Reality

There is plenty of discussion about change these days. Have you noticed how the perceived need for "change" has taken on a strong positive connotation and gained momentum around the county? Based on this momentum and positive connotation, it seems that the majority of people assume that change will also yield something better, both immediately and in the future.

Now what if the opposite were true? What if the association with change were negative or even neutral? How would this effect the change process? How would those charged with championing and building a compelling case for change go about addressing the resistance or ambivalence as a result of a negative or, at best, neutral association?

While the above example is obviously framed in a political context, a range or continuum of either a positive, neutral or negative perception is associated with every change initiative. In the context of executive leadership and change management, these associations often create some unique challenges. At the same time, however, these associations provide great opportunities if the leader and those charged with leading change understand the process of transformation.

One simple definition of the word change is "to cause to be different." Different does not always yield something better. This is particularly true if the outcomes are not clearly defined. This might be analogous to the phrase, "Good intentions but bad results." A more effective strategy which improves the odds of achieving the desired outcomes requires a clear action plan to guide the transformation process toward the desired outcome. Being so deliberate takes time, careful thought, and planning and is often counter-intuitive in a world driven by a paradigm of faster, cheaper and better. Intense time pressures and other resource constraints can also make leading change difficult and, in some cases, overwhelming. The unfortunate reality is that many change initiatives do not achieve the best possible outcomes and still fewer are sustained over time.

Transformation and change have very similar definitions. We prefer the word "transformation" over "change" as change tends to suggest an event or end result while transformation tends to convey an ongoing process. The latter, when done skillfully and deliberately and combined with best-in-class leadership, team and organizational development solutions, will yield and sustain desired business results. This is not magic or good fortune, but rather a blending of your great vision, our expertise and an effective collaboration that will yield great results.

It is no accident that we chose the word "great" before "vision" and "reality." "Great" implies something better than good, of remarkable value, an extraordinary achievement, etc. "Vision" conveys direction or an ideal future state. "Reality" implies a quality or state of being actual or true—that which exists objectively and factually. When it all comes together, transformation is about effective processes, while "great" quantifies the goal, "vision" sets the direction or future state, and "reality" underscores a need for objectivity, facts and truth. The end result is Transforming Great Vision into Reality.

The real essence of transforming great vision into reality resides in the word "great"; here's why. Let's look back several years ago. Jim Collins' wrote a classic book, Good to Great, which was published in 2001. In our opinion, it remains on a short list of seminal works and represents a dramatic paradigm shift in leadership best practices and business management. The extensive research that grounded Collins' findings involved a tireless quest for reality. This research was conducted by a team of dedicated, passionate researchers who were inspired by Collins' theories and proven brilliance.

One of many thought-provoking quotes from the book is "Good is the enemy of great." Collins further suggests that "Good being the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is also a human problem." It is this "human problem" component that is most interesting and yet the most perplexing at times. Our experience over the years suggests that far too few CEOs and other senior executive leaders have leveraged the lessons from Good to Great in their efforts to achieve (and sustain) greatness among their employees, teams and organizations. One could argue that if one is making the effort to be good, why not turn up the volume and go for the great? It is with this opportunity and choice to pursue and achieve greatness that I founded Human Performance Strategies, LLC midway in my career as a senior executive with Johnson & Johnson.

The following is an excerpt from our website which underscores our belief about "Good vs. Great":

HPS is pleased to introduce this new, accelerated learning-based resource for CEOs and other senior executive leaders. The theme of this publication, CEO Leadership Best Practices Journal™, and the entire focus of our work are dedicated to helping CEOs, Presidents and other Senior Executives to successfully transform great vision into reality.

We hope you enjoy this and future issues and welcome your comments and inquiries.

Kindest regards,
Larry & Melinda

HUMAN PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES, LLC
Executive Offices, Austin, Texas USA
www.hp-strategies.com

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