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The world of work is undergoing a seismic shift, and employees are no longer willing to tolerate outdated structures. As organizations strive to thrive, they must directly address the desires of their workforce for autonomy, purpose, and innovation. Ignoring these needs is not an option; it's a recipe for failure.The Challenge for Traditional StructuresTraditional organizations, characterized by rigid hierarchies and top-down decision-making, need help to keep pace. Employees crave environments where they can express their potential and contribute meaningfully. Companies that fail to adapt risk losing talent and stifling innovation, as seen in recent headlines of layoffs and worker dissatisfaction across various sectors.<blockquote>"In a world where work is rapidly evolving, the organizations that thrive will be those that empower their employees, embrace innovation, and foster a culture of continuous growth."</blockquote>Overcoming resistancePeople are creatures of habit and organisations encounter all sorts of resistance to overcome the old and bring in the new:<ol><li>Cultural Resistance: Employees and leadership may resist changes to established processes and mindsets.</li><li>Leadership Buy-in: Ensuring top management fully supports and understands the new direction is crucial.</li><li>Skill Gaps: Employees may lack the necessary skills for new roles or technologies, requiring training and development.</li><li>Maintaining Engagement: Keeping employees motivated and engaged during transitions can be difficult.</li><li>Balancing Autonomy and Accountability: Finding the right level of employee freedom while maintaining performance standards.</li><li>Communication Barriers: Ensuring clear and open communication across all levels of the organization.</li><li>Measuring Success: Identifying appropriate metrics to evaluate the impact of changes.</li><li>Integration with Existing Systems: Aligning new processes with existing technologies and workflows.</li><li>Change Fatigue: Employees may become overwhelmed by continuous changes and initiatives.</li><li>Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion: Building a diverse and inclusive culture that supports innovation and growth.</li></ol>Three Key Suggestions for Transformation1. Empower Employee Autonomy Companies like Netflix have established a culture of freedom and responsibility, allowing employees to make decisions that affect their work. This approach increases engagement and fosters a sense of ownership over projects. Action Point: Create flexible work arrangements and let teams choose how they approach their projects, enhancing creativity and accountability.2. Cultivate a Culture of Innovation Adobe has implemented its "Kickbox" innovation process, providing employees with a toolkit and funding to pursue new ideas. This initiative has led to numerous successful products and increased employee morale. Action Point: Encourage experimentation and recognize creative contributions to cultivate an environment where innovation can flourish.<blockquote>"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle." — Steve Jobs</blockquote>3. Invest in Personal Development Salesforce has made headlines for its commitment to employee growth, offering extensive training programs and mentorship opportunities. This investment has resulted in higher employee satisfaction and retention. Action Point: Develop tailored programs focusing on self-awareness and skill enhancement, ensuring employees feel supported in their career journeys.The Path ForwardOrganizations that navigate these changes will create a more engaged and motivated workforce. By fostering autonomy, encouraging innovation, and investing in personal development, companies can enhance their adaptability and position themselves for long-term success.The future belongs to companies that break free from outdated models and embrace their employees' unique qualities.

Breaking the Mold: How Companies Must Evolve or Die

As we enter a new era, traditional structures like rigid hierarchies and centralized control are losing relevance. The future demands self-reliance and personal authority, empowering individuals and organizations to navigate change with adaptability and purpose. Embracing your own authority is now essential, not just for personal growth but for thriving in today’s unpredictable world.The Shift to Internal AuthorityFor generations, people have looked outward for validation—whether to workplace hierarchies, social expectations, or institutional norms. As these structures falter, individuals and organizations must cultivate self-leadership, rooted in personal values and purpose. This shift to internal guidance empowers them to adapt and remain grounded even as the external landscape changes.The Transformed OrganizationForward-thinking companies are already adapting by prioritizing decentralized decision-making, open communication, and purpose-driven work. In transformed organizations, employees are trusted to make decisions, encouraged to grow, and aligned with a shared mission. This creates a culture of resilience, innovation, and higher engagement, allowing them to respond swiftly to change.Key features of transformed companies include:1. Empowering Decision-Making Employees act with autonomy, enabling quick responses to challenges and fostering accountability.2. Fostering Continuous Growth. Emphasizing learning creates a resilient, up-to-date workforce and boosts morale.3. Aligning with Purpose. Purpose-driven companies attract loyal talent and customers, building a stable foundation.Meanwhile, non-transformed companies cling to rigid hierarchies, limit growth, and focus narrowly on profit. This results in disengaged employees, slower innovation, and higher turnover, as top talent leaves for more adaptable environments.Own Authority for IndividualsFor individuals, embracing their own authority means moving beyond external validation and cultivating inner clarity and self-trust. As structures shift, inner alignment with one’s values, strengths, and intuition becomes the key to navigating change confidently and contributing authentically.New Leadership StylesLeaders in transformed companies are facilitators, not controllers. They empower employees, prioritize long-term alignment over short-term results, and cultivate a culture of trust and continuous learning. In contrast, leaders in non-transformed companies rely on control and command, creating compliance rather than creativity.Embracing the FutureUltimately, this new era belongs to those who embrace own authority, adaptability, and purpose. As traditional structures give way, individuals and organizations that prioritize personal authority and alignment will thrive, creating resilient, authentic, and impactful paths forward.

The Future of Work: Why Embracing Your Own Authority is Essential

Senior man, listening and hand on ear or curious guy with gesture to hear gossip, conversation or announcement. Hearing, loss and old person with a disability or deaf male with hands to listen

&nbsp; &nbsp;In today’s fast-paced corporate world, leaders often feel the pressure to talk – to solve, to direct, to be the loudest voice in the room. But there’s a more profound truth: the most influential leaders are the ones who know when to stop talking and start listening.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;I’ll never forget when a corporate leader brought me into his organization, desperate to “fix” his broken team. Within minutes of observing, it became clear: He wasn’t empowering his people; he was steamrolling them. He talked for 45 minutes straight, never noticing that his team had tuned him out—they were checking their phones, staring out the window, completely disengaged.&nbsp; &nbsp;During a break, I pulled him aside and said, “For the next two hours, can you do me a favor? Don’t talk.” He was confused but reluctantly agreed. What happened next was incredible: his team came alive without his voice dominating the room. They debated, collaborated, and were genuinely heard for the first time. At one point, he became visibly anxious. I could tell he was dying to jump in and “fix” things. He eventually snapped and interrupted, saying, “This is a waste of time; we’re getting nowhere.” &nbsp; &nbsp;But that wasn’t true. His team was finally finding their voice. And that was the breakthrough.&nbsp; &nbsp;Three weeks later, he called me and said, “Rich, I didn’t realize it, but I’ve been the problem all along. I’ve always felt I needed to be the one with the answers, but now I see I need to let my team figure things out.”&nbsp; &nbsp;That’s the power of silence. It’s not about saying the right thing; it’s about creating the space for others to step up. A great leader listens more than they speak. &nbsp; &nbsp;They don’t feel the need to control every conversation or have the last word. They empower their teams by giving them the room to grow, to innovate, and to lead. If you’re always the one talking, you’re missing the opportunity to listen – and in listening, you’ll find the real power of leadership.

The Power of Silence in Leadership

As corporate coaches, we're often called upon to solve problems and drive change. But what if our most powerful tool isn't what we say or do, but how we observe? This is where developing a "bird's eye view" becomes a game-changer.The bird's eye view is about stepping back from the day-to-day operations and seeing patterns, behaviors, and dynamics that might be invisible to those on the ground. It's about being a trusted advisor who can offer a fresh, outside perspective that illuminates blind spots and catalyzes positive change.Let me share a personal experience that illustrates the power of this approach. I was once called in to "fix" a broken team. Instead of jumping in with solutions, I chose to simply observe their interactions during a retreat. What I saw was telling: the leader monopolized the conversation for 45 minutes straight, while team members visibly disengaged, checking their watches and phones. The leader, caught up in his own monologue, was oblivious to this dynamic.By maintaining that bird's eye view, I was able to help the leader see and address this destructive pattern. My solution was simple yet effective: I asked the leader to remain silent for two hours. The result? A lively, productive conversation among team members who finally had space to contribute.This story underscores a crucial point: often, the most valuable insights come not from what we say or do as coaches, but from what we observe and then gently bring to our clients' attention.So how can we develop this bird's eye view? Here are some strategies I've found effective:<ol><li>Practice mindful observation: In your next coaching session, try to focus less on the content of what's being said and more on the dynamics at play. Who's speaking? Who isn't? What's the energy in the room?</li><li>Ask powerful questions: Instead of offering solutions, ask questions that help your clients gain their own bird's eye view. "What patterns do you notice in your team's interactions?" "If you were observing this situation from the outside, what would you see?"</li><li>Resist the urge to problem-solve: Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is create space for our clients to see and solve their own problems.</li><li>Cultivate diverse experiences: The more varied your experiences and perspectives, the better equipped you'll be to offer a truly outside view to your corporate clients.</li><li>Regular reflection: Take time after each coaching engagement to reflect on what you observed. What did you notice that your client might have missed?</li></ol>To truly embody this approach, we need to position ourselves outside the corporate bubble. As I often say, "I don't want to be in corporate. I want to be as far away as possible, they already are in their world. I want to be outside so I can see what they don't see"This distance allows us to observe not just what is being said, but how it's being said, and perhaps more importantly, what isn't being said. It's about reading the room, noticing body language, and picking up on subtle dynamics that might be holding a team back.Remember, our value as corporate coaches lies not in being another insider, but in offering a perspective that insiders simply can't see. By developing our bird's eye view, we position ourselves to be truly trusted advisors, capable of catalyzing transformative change in the organizations we serve.As coaches, we're not there to throw around opinions or make decisions for our clients. We're there to help them see what they can't from within their own world. And for that, we need a bird's eye view.So, let's spread our wings, rise above the fray, and embrace the power of the bird's eye view. It's from this vantage point that we can truly make a difference in the corporate world.

Mastering the Bird's Eye View: A Game-Changer for Corporate Coaches

Every organization I work with implements some system to improve things—Agile, design thinking, and programs to improve inclusion and diversity. These are generally good programs. Yet, some of these initiatives lead to great success, while others fail to deliver on their promises. The key lies in the organizational context—the invisible foundation for implementing these systems.Consider this analogy: When planting a pineapple seed, the quality of the seed itself matters little if the soil lacks the necessary nutrients. Last week, I went to buy soil and had two options - a €1.19 bag and a €6.00 bag. When I asked about the difference, the store clerk showed me that the more expensive soil was thick, dark, and rich, with a pleasant earthy aroma, while the cheaper option was dusty, grey, and devoid of life. Naturally, I chose the €6.00 bag because I knew my pineapple seed would thrive in that nutrient-rich soil, whereas it would struggle and likely fail in the poorer-quality soil, no matter how good the seed might be.In the same way, the seed you are trying to implement—be it Agile, Lean Six Sigma, or any other management system—is only as successful as the soil it is planted in, namely the organizational context. Although the system itself may be sound, if the underlying conditions within the organization are not conducive to its implementation, the initiative is likely to falter, no matter how well-designed it is.<figure id="figure-79r0teay6jlyh4xk8p" class=""><img id="79r0teay6jlyh4xk8p" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2013784763/photo/young-girls-running-in-a-high-school-cross-country-5k-race.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=waUW9fKmkDNuaQqgwM4c0skWZohL0bYsoyDrtyDotMU=" alt="Young girls running in a high school cross country 5K race" title="Young girls running in a high school cross country 5K race" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-lg md:rounded-xl lg:rounded-2xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="null" data-positiony="null" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2013784763/photo/young-girls-running-in-a-high-school-cross-country-5k-race.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=waUW9fKmkDNuaQqgwM4c0skWZohL0bYsoyDrtyDotMU=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>Are you intentionally creating a powerful context? If not, why not?

The Secret to Organizational Change Programs: Understanding Context. 2

people sitting beside rectangular table beside window

Last Friday, I watched a football match of my favorite team. My team led 1-0 five minutes before the end. I sent a message to a friend saying, "How great if we can win this game!" Two minutes later, the opponent scored 1-1. My friend replied, "Never praise the day before it's over." To me, that's the exact wrong way to live. Why?<h2>The Power of Shifting from How to Who</h2>Have you ever asked yourself questions like these:<ul><li>How do I find the perfect job?</li><li>How do I find the perfect partner?</li><li>How can I make today a great day?</li><li>How can I be happier?</li><li>How can I get more friends?</li></ul>Now, let's shuffle the letters of the word HOW and make it into WHO and ask again:<ul><li>Who do I need to be to be the best employee?</li><li>Who do I need to be to be the perfect partner?</li><li>Who do I need to be to have a great day?</li><li>Who do I need to be to be happier?</li><li>Who do I need to be to be a good friend?</li></ul><h2>What's the Difference?</h2>What do you notice? What's different for you when you ask the Who questions? Do you notice that there's more power in them? Do you see that you have something to say about the outcome of the Who questions?The How questions are directed at trying to get something from the world. The Who questions are directed at you being the best version of yourself to the world. The Who question returns you to your powerful self. But ONLY always.<h2>Applying the Principle in Business</h2>Businesses that focus on "Who do we need to be to be loved by our customers?" and "Who do we need to be to have the best people working for us?" will steal all the market share from businesses that ask themselves, "How do we get more customers?" and "How can we have better people working here?" will always out innovate the competition .When leaders and employees ask Who questions, they align their actions with their values. This alignment fosters trust and loyalty. It transforms the workplace into a space where everyone thrives.So, next time you find yourself asking a How question, pause and reframe it as a Who question. Focus on becoming the best version of yourself. This simple shift can bring profound changes in your personal and professional life.

Rich Habets

Articles

Breaking the Mold: How Companies Must Evolve or Die

The Future of Work: Why Embracing Your Own Authority is E...

The Power of Silence in Leadership

Mastering the Bird's Eye View: A Game-Changer for Corpora...

The Secret to Organizational Change Programs: Understandi...

The Power Principle: From How to Who