Struggling to deliver on your strategy?
Lack of urgency in your organization?
Watching your competitors do things you’ve thought about but didn’t translate into action?
The three questions above address fundamental aspects of business growth. Growth is vital, for if you’re not growing, you’re not succeeding.
It’s pleasant to be comfortable, but too much comfort leads to stagnation and decline, and this can be result of nesting.
Let’s look at some of the signs of nesting in the executive team:
- People are becoming too comfortable
- Leaders feel protected and there aren’t any consequences for their behavior or performance
- Consensus thinking prevails, there is little controversy and even less conflict
- Debate on real issues doesn’t happen
- There is a lack of ownership and proactive risk taking
- There’s the belief that the outside environment is too tough or not possible to change
- There’s a climate of complacency
- The client and their needs are no longer the center of their world
Nesting can happen quickly in the executive team. It diminishes initiative and ownership in the organization. If you sense the symptoms of nesting in your executive team, here are six “anti-nesting” strategies to get your executive team back on track:
- Survey the two levels of the organization under the executive team – ask how the executive team is enabling them to play at their best, or not?
- Surround yourself with people who challenge you and your team. If you can’t find these people in your organization, look elsewhere.
- Bring in customers and former customers for focus group exchanges with the executive team. Listen to what they say to you, then act on it.
- Put yourself in harm’s way. Not something potentially fatal for your business or brand, but something that will wake people up.
- Burn the nest (literally) following Cortez’s example when he burned the ships.
- Invite me to talk with you and your executive team about Executive Ownershift®.
Nesting behaviors can attach to any organizational team or function in your business. It’s often seen in businesses that have run well for some time and complacency and comfort start to set in. Don’t let nesting prevent your executive team (or any other team for that matter) from playing at their best. It puts your entire organization at risk.
What are you waiting for, get out of your nest. You know what they say about the early bird.
Storks image from iStock-543681542