Law professor, author, and lawyer
Norman, Oklahoma
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to how to navigate organizational change when your boss believes in holding to the status quo. But you should have some basic guideposts in mind when you start your journey.
Before laying anything out on the table, do your homework. First, understand the dynamics of your culture: Who has the real power in the organization? Know how that power is both wielded and controlled. Next, you should have a clear sense of how many people will benefit from your idea or project once it's carried through. Is this mission just part of your personal agenda -- with you as the primary benefactor? Be able to document and support your findings about the way others will benefit from your plan. Finally, analyze what's truly important to your boss. What motivates your boss? What is your boss trying to promote and achieve?
Some of the biggest pitfalls in this process are taking initial resistance to change personally and believing that resistance is intractable. Very few people are absolutely opposed to change. Rather, they hesitate because they cannot see immediately how they will benefit from it. You've got to show them. Realize that there are many ways to achieve your goal. Learn to use creativity and flexibility to get there.
Anita F. Hill was a law professor at the University of Oklahoma from 1986 to 1997. Her memoir, Speaking Truth to Power (Anchor Books, 1998), is in part her reflections on her testimony during the 1991 nomination hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She is now writing a book based on her work on issues of gender and racial diversity.
Director, Leadership Education Project
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
First, understand a simple truth about all bosses: A boss is not an autonomous creature, behaving only according to her own preferences or style. She is often being pulled in different directions. And her seemingly conservative inclinations evolve from the need to find the lowest common denominator among conflicting expectations. Although that may seem obvious, so often we imagine (and then treat) the boss as "the enemy" -- whose sole purpose is to disagree or to say no. Instead, think politically about the larger network in which your boss must operate. See how you can make a systemic intervention, rather than focusing all your attention on getting your boss to change.
Second, you can't lead alone; that is suicidal. Change creates disequilibrium. The easiest way for an organization (or a boss) to restore equilibrium is to neutralize the source of the disequilibrium -- in other words, you. So develop allies. Build a case for why your initiative is going to pay off in the larger network. Simply put: Make it as easy as you can for your boss to be supportive of you.
Ronald A. Heifetz (ronald_heifetz @harvard.edu) teaches some of the most popular classes at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Much of his research focuses on effective leadership. Heifetz also authored Leadership Without Easy Answers (the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1994).
President
BBM Human Resource Consultants Inc.
Toronto, Canada
If your boss doesn't understand the need for change, this might be partly your fault. You can't make change; you have to sell it. And the key to selling anything is to understand where the other person is coming from -- rather than to assume that your boss is a complete jerk. But most of us communicate from an egocentric place. We construct an idea or a project mainly in terms of what makes sense to us. Instead, ask yourself: "What's most important to my boss?" "What are his greatest concerns?" Go forward only after you've answered these questions.
Barbara Moses (www.bbmcareerdev.com) has taught "career activism" to people from such well-known companies as Levi Strauss & Co., Lucent Technologies Inc., and Four Seasons Regent Hotels. She has also authored and published the Career Planning Workbook (1982),which has been used by more than 1 million people.
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