Put simply, the training directors were like wolves in that they effectively culled many of the defensive routines that were limiting regional growth. Each time the training directors unearthed constraining regional rituals, a subsequent reevaluation of long-held regional beliefs ensued, and the regional leaders often shed their constraining stance on business practices that had impeded growth. Ultimately, this small team served as connective tissue between the headquarter strategy and those who were ultimately tasked with executing the work regionally. This ability to manage adversarial tensions positioned the team as a system catalyst capable of connecting regional histories with the new enterprise vision. Balancing the tension between empathy and accountability allowed the training directors to develop relationships with the regional leaders, which in turn made them able to accurately identify widely held regional beliefs constraining market share growth and discuss these constraints with the leaders in a way that reflected understanding and empathy. Managing this span enabled the training directors to concurrently hold steadfast to company-wide priorities while also demonstrating regional understanding and empathy. These qualities meant that the training directors would have to manage the tension of simultaneously being empathetic regional insiders and initiative-driving outsiders. As background, each of the six members had impressive sales records and deep relationship trust among their regional peers. Like the paradoxical relationship between YNP wolves and elk, our team of six training directors’ paradoxical relationships with the regions they supported also unlocked wide-reaching system benefits. YNP wolves largely targeted sick and weakened elk, thereby strengthening the entire herd. Although the wolves’ impact on the elk may seem wholly detrimental, there is actually a paradoxical relationship in which the wolves simultaneously pose a direct predatorial threat to elk while also serving as a health catalyst for elk herds. YNP wolves were able to drive profound system change in short order by hunting overpopulated elk herds that had been straining plant species. 1: Understand and leverage paradoxical tensions. Three keys to compounding team learning into functional transformation Success was ultimately dependent on enacting several leadership behavioral shifts: While we saw this learning effort as a viable way to revitalize sales leadership, we also acknowledged that this was going to require time and a solid year to drive any transformational progress. This team of six became our analogous team of wolves. It also became clear that leadership training and coaching were not the primary gaps constraining the function rather, there were deeply rooted pervasive functional leadership beliefs and practices that were thwarting market growth.ĭrawing from the trophic cascade analogy and inspired by the strategy of reintroducing wolves, we presented a business case for creating and deploying a new team of six existing regional sales leaders to serve as training directors charged with driving adoption of new sales leadership behaviors. The majority of the 100-plus front-line sales leaders were overly focused on nonessential selling activities, shirking tough accountability conversations with veteran sellers, slow to hire and unwilling to consider hiring sales talent from other industries. While working with a large sales function in the midst of shifting its primary focus from top-line revenue to market share growth, we quickly identified an unforeseen gap impeding progress. We offer a solution where the Yellowstone wolves serve as a guiding analogy to illustrate that strategically introducing a high-performing team can unlock systemic growth through scaling team learning. Yet, in spite of massive training investments, most learning and development attempts fail because they remain disconnected from actual business drivers. Like national parks, organizational functions are also complex systems that self-generate benefits. In short, the reintroduction of a relatively small pack of wolves triggered a chain of positive changes that restored the ecological health of the entire park. When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, it led to an ecological phenomenon referred to as a trophic cascade. In the same way, a deliberately deployed team learning effort can act as a catalyst for functional transformation. => In 1995, the reintroduction of a pack of wolves to Yellowstone National Park triggered a chain of positive changes that restored the ecological health of the entire park. How to activate a trophic cascade: the important role of team learning in functional transformation Array
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |