Face it – we have all been there. Your team knows what to do: they put in the hours doing sales calls, networking, and tapping every opportunity to expand their business. They work on business skills, take a seminar on social networking, and really try to have a positive attitude. If they’re doing everything right, it makes you wonder why sales are not through the roof and why you are not experiencing any growth. Could it be that there is more at play here than business as usual?
Experience working with top executives has shown me that the symptoms that many organizations cite as stifling business – burnout, stagnation, indecision, lack of creativity, lack of motivation, and lack of productivity – are all related to one thing that many people do not think about: apathy.
“Hey – I’m not apathetic,” you say. “I care about what I do!”
But apathy is not indifference. It is actually more common than you think. Take a look at my working definition of apathy: a natural, human instinct, common to us all, that consistently encourages us to seek a comfort zone in which nothing ever changes.
You can relate with that, right? Don’t worry – most of the executives I have worked with can relate as well.
Take, for instance, Ann who is a young, bright, rising star of one of our clients. She was on a fast track for success, but hit a wall. She was exhausted, hadn’t had a new idea in months, and felt like life was nothing but work. It was getting to the point that her boss was concerned about her performance, even though she had great potential. It turned out that Ann found security in staying busy and overworked. Her apathy (comfort zone) came from maintaining the pace of a superhero, which allowed her to never face her insecurities about her competency.
Another case study of mine, Al, is the CEO of a small company with 50 employees. Though brimming with confidence, he lacked confidence in his people. He didn’t trust anyone to get the job done right, so he just did it himself. His leadership team felt that he had a great work ethic, but they knew that he did not trust them to get anything accomplished. He was completely unaware of the damage his behavior was causing his company.
The common denominator of every organization in the world is people. Every day, people show up for work and bring with them their own unique set of values, beliefs, and behaviors.
Effective leadership development is necessary for every level of any organization, from the CEO to the stock room clerk. Organizations without a proactive leadership development program at every level of their organization are prime targets for the forces of apathy.
How does recognizing apathy translate to more business growth for you?
A few years back, I was working with a significant international company in the food services industry. The company had been operational since the 1970s and had grown revenues to a high of over 200 million dollars.
However, when I looked at the company’s past, I found that the company had leveled off three years prior and was in the beginning stages of decline. I immediately began to talk with the leaders about the forces of apathy. They were surprised at my concern and somewhat indignant at the suggestion of apathy. They were, after all, debt free with operating capital in the bank; they though they were doing just fine.
Just fine is not good enough. Every organization must choose growth. The only alternative to growth is decline. There is no other position for an organization in planning its future.
My first step was to generate a new level of awareness of the available untapped potential existing among the leadership team. From this new level of awareness among the leadership team, I started a proactive leadership development process for the top leaders. An appropriate level of leadership development was then implemented at every level of the organization. The company began a new phase of growth within 24 months and has never looked back, and you can do the same thing with your business!
STRATEGY #1: It all starts with awareness, so you are halfway there.
Effective leadership begins with an awareness of how the forces of apathy affect the organization and its people. Without an awareness of the forces of apathy, people become stuck in ineffective and unproductive comfort zones of their own design, while ineffective leaders focus on the symptoms of their people problems. This leads us to the next strategy.
STRATEGY #2: STOP trying to fix the symptoms!
One of the most common training and development mistakes I find is where organizations begin designing training programs to fix what has been broken: a communication seminar to fix communication problems,
a clerical skills seminar to fix a department’s lack of focus, or a policies seminar to fix attention to detail. Obviously, the problems are never “fixed” because the organizations are only working on symptoms, never the real problem.
STRATEGY #3: Equip your downline with the 4 personal powers
Apathy, as a natural, human instinct, is counterbalanced with certain personal powers – choice, vision, attraction, and courage – that were strategically included in our creative, human design. These personal powers are available to everyone, but without some understanding of why these personal powers are important, they are usually ignored as motivational fluff or insignificant soft skills. An awareness and understanding of these counterbalancing personal powers can serve as a future foundation for a consistent leadership development model that makes good common sense.
Now that you know about apathy, get to work on identifying areas where apathy may have set in with your business, share what you know with your team, and start implementing these 3 strategies. You will be well on your way to taking your team to the next level of effectiveness.
You CAN overcome the negative forces of apathy!
Author Bio: Inspiring genuine growth and achievement in leaders, David Byrd has 30 years of experience working with top business executives and their organizations. He is a master of effective leadership and works closely with leaders worldwide to maximize their leadership potential. For more information about conquering apathy, the 4 personal powers, or help growing your downline, visit http://www.authorsup.com/David-Byrd.
