Authenticity is the cornerstone of truly transformational leadership. To truly engage those around you, and get them onboard with your vision, you must show your values, and live those values each and every day. However, before jumping feet first into a transformation program – it is key to understand the values of your staff.
When I left college, one of my very first interviews was with Avis Rent a Car. I had done my research and knew that Avis was one of the leading companies in the industry. While my first interview was somewhat of a breeze, at the second stage I met with the Operations Managers who described the location as a ‘tough location’ with two strong unions and a workforce who were very resistant to change. I felt as though my interviewers didn’t quite believe that a young woman, straight out of college would have the leadership skills or resilience to take on a position where I would be managing men twice my age, who were resistant to change. However the very next day I received a call offering me the job!
I thought long and hard before accepting, as I felt that the culture of the location was not conducive to the organization’s long term goals of increasing customer service and providing quality products that would exceed customer expectations.
But then I reconsidered – didn’t I want to take on a challenge, and make a real difference? Hadn’t I dreamed of being a transformational leader?
In fact, wasn’t I already ahead? My interviewers had already given me valuable insight into difficulties I would face and I could prepare my strategy before I even walked through the door!
So I strategized. I considered my approach to getting the staff onside. It was a male dominated environment – maybe I should go in with a macho attitude, and a ‘do as I say’ mentality. But that didn’t feel right to me – it wasn’t my style. Should I perhaps explain to the staff the theories and practices that I had learned in college and tell them why they should adopt certain processes and procedures (I shudder to think how that would have gone down).
Instead, I chose to seek to understand the teams, and individuals with whom I would be working. By observing how they worked, their behaviors and processes, I could both build a better understanding of how the organization worked, but also begin to understand my staff’s motivations, fears and dreams. That felt right to me – it was what I authentically wanted to do.
By shadowing staff, I learned far more about how the business worked than I ever could have hoped to learn by reading the staff manual. When I worked alongside a service agent cleaning a car in freezing weather – I could empathize. When I spoke to a customer service rep who was having a bad day, I could understand what could cause frustration. When another manager talked me through how they worked I had an opportunity to model their behavior
By learning so much about the teams I would be leading – I was given a great opportunity to be able to understand why people were hesitant to change, and overcome any objections to change. I showed my weaknesses – I could never claim to know as much about say cleaning a car in the snow, but I could understand what could be improved in the process to make it easier for them by changing some basic processes.
No one wants to come to work to do a bad job – it’s just not a ‘thing’. But when the aims and objectives of leaders are not clear – this can lead to feelings of insecurity which, in turn, lead to hesitancy to try out new things, and a culture of paranoia. By being open and authentic, you establish trust. And, when your staff trust you they will believe that changes you make are in the interest of not just the company as a whole, but are truly based on making life better for everyone in that company
Angela Barbato is an award-winning Change and Transformation specialist. Having held a range of senior leadership roles at Avis Budget Group, Angela is a foremost expert on the topics of leadership, transformation and customer experience. You can find out more about Angela at http://www.abarbato.com.