One of the things that I love about what I do as a speaker/trainer/educator is that I get to work with a lot of great people genuinely concerned about their development and the development and improvement of their organizations.

As I continue on my career respite from managing a business that’s not mine, I’m increasingly conscious of the significant gap between the needs and ideas of employees and the attention and interest of senior managers.

There are so many remarkable ideas and thoughts on improving performance that never see the light of day that it is staggering.  Just a few examples:

  • The managers and knowledge workers in my MBA classes in Project Management constantly agonize over the issue of: “I see how it should be done and why, and we are not even close.  How do I get my company to change?”
  • Specific to managing projects, it seems nearly universal that people describe mismanagement, not by the project managers, but by the arbitrary establishment of dates, deadlines, budgets and even specifications from the top.
  • A valued former colleague recently reminded me that an ultimately successful mega project from our past was slowed by lack of executive management guidance to drive culture change and ensure accountability across the organization.  Life looked good from the top.  The view from down below was filled with pain and frustration.   I don’t know why we didn’t listen.
  • In all of my leadership workshops, one or more participants will raise their hands and ask something like: “I get everything you’ve been saying, but how do I pull this off with a boss that doesn’t get it?”
  • I run a workshop that helps teams tame and execute a practical strategy process and the refrain is similar: “We can use this, but how do I get everyone on board.  Especially top management.”

As much as I would like to opine on some easy answers for those operating from somewhere below the executive ranks, I don’t have any (that are easy).  To quote Bill Clinton, “I feel your pain.”

I do have some suggestions that stop short of coup d’état, and I’m hoping for some of the extremely sharp readers here to add in their ideas.

1. My first comment is for the people at the top.  WAKE UP! Leading doesn’t mean that you have the monopoly on ideas.  To the contrary, leading means figuring out how to help people that have great insight into problems and solutions.  Listen and set your people free!

2. Make the boss the hero. Learn to sell your ideas in the language of leaders.  Just because you think something is important doesn’t guarantee that anyone else will.  Understanding your manager’s priorities is a key to success with this tactic.

3.  Develop the skills of a diplomat and create alliances. Many opportunities for improvement require changes across silos, and the view from the silo next to your problem is very, very different from what you are looking at.  The adage, “Seek first to understand and then be understood,” is advice to live by when proposing changes across functions.  You need allies.

4. Seek a sponsor by blending your new-found mastery of diplomacy with the language of executives. Make certain your idea is important enough to the firm’s core issues of executing strategy, improving service to customers and cutting costs.  Beware the risks of moving upstream without your boss.

5. Create your own center of competency.  Failing to up-sell or cross sell improvement ideas, you should work to optimize results within your immediate span of control.  Interestingly, best practice improvements are contagious.  As your team improves and visibly benefits from and enjoys the improvements, others become curious.  Use this credibility to spread your wisdom.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

If you are in charge, this is easy money for you.  Pay attention and do something about it.

If you’re not in charge, but believe in change, don’t give up trying to find opportunities to make a difference.  I would rather crash on the organizational rocks of politics and uncertainty than labor away in futility.  Never ever give up.

Readers, jump in here.  Please share your thoughts and examples of success in leading change from the middle.