When we’re setting the stage, we’re preparing for our transformation from identifying the problem we’re solving to readying the organization for what’s to come.
Transformation Driver
1. Solve the Right Problem.
When we’ve reached an early plateau, often we realize we’ve been solving the wrong problem.
Ask Your Leadership
Does the problem matter to our customer or is it what we want to solve?
Often, transformations start with initiatives instead of clarity. Ask, what’s the real business problem we’re solving? Otherwise, you’ll have transformation theater.
Aaron Elizondo — COO, Coppel
Transformation Driver
2. Create a Customer-Centered Mission.
The test of a strong mission is that it’s a reason people will commit and sacrifice.
Ask Your Leadership
Does our “Why” viscerally engage the team and capture a bigger purpose or is it just about the financials?
Revenue and profit was important. But it was not the number one thing. The biggest thing was, how will customers work in ten or twenty years and how will technology help them? Why is it a better world for the customer?
Roland Zellis — Former CRO, Autodesk
Transformation Driver
3. Act Aspirationally Not Incrementally.
Set an audacious goal that stretches the realm of belief and is a major win that changes the game.
Ask Your Leadership
Does our goal change the organization's or market's paradigm about who we are and what we can do?
When you try to do something 10% better, you tend to work from where you are... But if I tell you it has to run on a gallon of gas for 500 miles, you’re going to have to start over.
Astro Teller — CEO, GoogleX
Transformation Driver
4. Align the Leadership Team.
Confirm common understanding and level of commitment from the leadership team.
Ask Your Leadership
Are we aligned on a true understanding of the transformation's mission, impact, and potential level of difficulty or are there variations in clarity and commitment?
The biggest unlock is getting the executive team truly aligned. Not just agreeing in the room but driving the same priorities across their teams. Until that happens, you’re spinning.
Amanda Eisel — CEO, Zelis
While we’re operationalizing, we’re putting the plan into action with full commitment and working with the organization to build momentum.
Transformation Driver
1. Commit with Energy.
Transformation is emotional. If leaders don’t model commitment and clarity, nobody else will buy in.
Ask Your Leadership
Are we burning the boats and leading with energy and commitment from the front line, or hedging from central command?
CEO stands for Chief Energy Officer. You have to keep the energy up. It will get hard.
David Kenny — Executive Chairman, Nielsen
Transformation Driver
2. Align Your Culture.
Culture is the glue and enabler to make the change successful and long-term.
Ask Your Leadership
How would we characterize our culture, and does it align with our mission and goals to get to the new world?
Culture enables you to build a high-performance company. We didn’t just want performance, we wanted pride. People had to feel this was a place worth giving their best to every day.
Christine Ann Miller — CEO, Melinta Therapeutics
Transformation Driver
3. Balance Speed and Adaptability.
Successful transformations move faster than the speed of any potential resistance and reassess to keep the strategy relevant and executable.
Ask Your Leadership
Are we operating with a sense of urgency, is our momentum clear, and do we demonstrate it?
We had to be agile. We changed our structure three times during the transformation.
Amanda Eisel — CEO, Zelis
Transformation Driver
4. Demonstrate Unwavering Belief and Require the Leaders Own It.
Know and show that we will be successful. The leaders must take the transformation forward, without the CEO or COO in the room.
Ask Your Leadership
Is our communication driven by passion and belief or are we suppressing our internal imposter syndrome?
If your leadership team isn’t modeling the change, it won’t stick. And if they’re sending mixed messages, it creates chaos.
Greg Johnson — Former COO, Cortera
Getting results starts with response of the market and organization as we begin to operate the transformation. Getting results is not just about the positive business results. It also includes the periods where we may experience dips or delayed results from the market while we’re anticipating the Golden Snake.
Transformation Driver
1. Define the Talent Who Will Live in the New World.
Profile, inventory, cull, and upgrade to get the right team for the future.
Ask Your Leadership
Does the organization see us being clear and decisive about who will move ahead?
Don’t expect founders or long-tenured executives to lead a transformation of what they built.
Camie Shelmire — CPO, Coalfire
Transformation Driver
2. Demonstrably and Visibly Remove Resistors.
Identify and move quickly and decisively on active and passive resistors.
Ask Your Leadership
Does the organization see us tolerating and accommodating resistance and bad fits or have we demonstrated how we use the velvet hammer?
You see it in meetings, the eye-rolls, the side comments. Cultural resistance isn’t always loud. But it slows everything down. And if they won’t shift, you have to make hard calls.
Lara Hirschowitz — CHRO, Equifax
Transformation Driver
3. Campaign and Engage the Organization from Big Platform to Small Platform.
Use the C-level platform opportunities to repeat the message as part of the campaign with L2s, and L3s engaging the organization in small teams.
Ask Your Leadership
Are we regularly out front, controlling the narrative or is the coconut telegraph undermining our messaging?
You have to keep showing up, saying the same thing in different ways. People don’t get it the first time. It’s about reinforcing the ‘why’ repeatedly until it becomes part of the culture.
Jana Schmidt — Former CEO, Harland Clark
Transformation Driver
4. Measure Results, Show Progress, Anticipate the Dip, and Message to It.
Know that performance will likely dip during the initial periods. Predict this, accelerate messaging, and power through it to get to the positive side.
Ask Your Leadership
Are we executing on a strong communication plan? Do we expect results too quickly? Are we ready to turn back early or do we have the fortitude and commitment to drive through the dip to the gold?
You need to understand that there is a dip in the middle. I call it the golden snake. Revenue goes down, partners panic, and employees wonder if it's the right path. But if you planned for the snake, you’re not surprised. You lead through it.
Roland Zellis — Former CRO, Autodesk