One of my clients told me today that she now sees when things are going badly, and knows when to ask for help. What a gift for a leader! Seeing that there is a problem and unilaterally changing perspective or behavior is so critical for effective leadership (and unfortunately a bit too rare). At least the combination of seeing it and acting on it is rare. I worked with a senior management team recently, and based on my individual conversations with people, they were definitely seeing their pattern (confronting each other up to a point—and then backing away and changing the subject), but despite seeing it and identifying it as not productive, they did not change their behavior.

I wish there were a simple answer to the problem, but obviously the situation will vary from system to system. It seems so frustratingly irrational to see a problem and then refuse to act on it, but I know from my own experience that in those situations, there is always a rational explanation for doing nothing (I tried this before and it didn’t work…The others won’t go along with me…The timing is not right…). If anyone out there has some antidotes for refusing to take that first step, let me know.

Jamie Notter