The Courage to Change the Status Quo
To
change the status quo, you need to build a counter-base to
the people who will resist every change. This base will be
built if people believe you - they see you have honesty
if they believe IN you, they see you have courage - it goes
back to those traditional Dakota values. Once you make a
decision, you will need even more courage to stand by your
decision.
Once you have made a decision, people will try to influence
you to change your mind. For example, if you have set a
policy of no early checks, people will ask over and over
for months if they can get an early check before finally
accepting the policy. You have to have the courage to stand
up to all of those people, no matter who their relatives
are or what position they hold.
You must also have the courage to make justifiable
exceptions. For example, if a family member dies, you might
authorize a person receiving their check early to pay
funeral arrangements or so they can leave for the funeral
with their paycheck. Immediately, you must expect others
will come and ask for an early check as well.You need to
have the courage to say, "Yes, I made an exception for Dion
because of the death of a family member, but I stand by my
policy of no early checks." Of course, you need to expect
that there will be many complaints because you allowed Dion
to receive an early check while turning down others. You
need to have the courage to continue your policy anyway.
The difference between willingness to change and
maintaining the status quo may be the difference between
success and failure. It was for Sitting Bull and Custer.
Orderly lines of soldiers made much easier targets than
Sioux warriors, dodging from side to side on horseback.
Yet, Custer ignored the warning of his Indian scout about
this weakness. He was unwilling to change. By the time
Custer reached Little Big Horn, he had a company of
soldiers who were used to going by the book.
When
an organization has too many rigid rules it does not
develop people with initiative and loses those who have it.
The difficult fact for many people to accept is that
leadership by example is our traditional way. When the
traditional war chiefs rode into battle, they rode in
front. They didn't stand behind the line of warriors and
give orders, "hey, you, get out there and fight".
If you as the supervisor don't come to work every day it
doesn't matter what you say. If you are going to make
change, it has to start with you. You cannot get people to
believe in you unless you follow your own policies. That
means no early checks for you, no personal errands during
work hours, no leaving early, no going to conferences and
skipping the sessions to shop. This will be a difficult
change for many of us who have gotten accustomed to having
privileges due to our positions. Change has to begin with
us.
I know that many of our contemporary Indian warriors,
including me, are veterans of the U.S. military. As our
Commander-in-Chief Dwight Eisenhower said, 'You don't lead
people by beating them over the head. That's not
leadership. That's assault." You lead by example.
Click here for an example of organization, a
tale of two meetings.
Think about the examples each leader provides.