How Leaders Can Effect Change by Changing Themselves
Jan 23, 2024
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Leaders often struggle to change their behaviors, hindering organizational progress. Professor Pant outlines a four-step process for leaders to cultivate awareness, commit to change, overcome interferences, and implement new behaviors. The podcast emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, seeking feedback, setting intentions, and being held accountable for behavioral change.
Leaders must cultivate awareness and commitment to change behaviors effectively.
Adopting techniques to overcome limiting thoughts and practicing new behaviors incrementally are crucial for leaders.
Deep dives
Leaders Reliance on Familiar Behaviors May Hinder Adaptability
Leaders often fall back on familiar behaviors that have worked for them in the past, even when faced with new challenges that require a different approach. An example shared in the podcast is about a senior leader, Cheryl, who approached a crucial pitch in her new board-level role using the same hands-on approach she had in her prior marketing position. This led to suboptimal results, highlighting the challenges of adapting leadership styles to new situations.
Importance of Building Awareness and Intentions for Behavior Change
The podcast emphasizes the significance of developing awareness of how one is perceived by others and understanding the thoughts and emotions behind current behaviors. By recognizing the need for change and creating credible intentions supported by commitment, leaders can lay the groundwork for behavioral transformation. An example provided involves a leader, Noemi, who, after facing interpersonal challenges in a new role, initiated one-on-one conversations with team members to practice active listening and collaboration.
Overcoming Interference and Practicing New Behaviors for Sustainable Change
To overcome limiting thoughts that hinder behavior change, leaders can adopt techniques like diffusion from third-generation cognitive therapies to reduce the power of negative beliefs. The podcast emphasizes the necessity of regularly practicing new behaviors in manageable steps, learning from setbacks, and creating a supportive environment for experimentation. By fostering hope and a belief in the possibility of improvement without compromising authenticity, leaders can navigate challenges and drive sustainable change.
Leaders play an important role in spearheading organisational change. However, INSEAD professor Narayan Pant notes that many leaders tend to rely on the same ways of doing things that have worked for them in the past, even though it may be the wrong approach for a particular situation.
In this podcast, Pant delves into why it can be difficult for leaders to identify and change their behaviours. He explains the four-step process to help leaders overcome this, which includes cultivating awareness, making a commitment to change, overcoming interferences and putting new behaviours into practice.
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