Barriers in transformation
Another Monday, another new week.
Today I’m pondering a lot about how barriers in the transformation of organisations can perhaps be mitigated in advance. A demand that I (understandably) hear again and again. And certain barriers can certainly be avoided.
On the other hand, the moments in which a team or an organisation fights its way through these barriers always uncover incredible potential – potential in the individual people, but also in the team as a whole.
My grandmother used to say:
“…if you want to get to know people well, go on a journey with them…”.
On the various transformation journeys on which we guide people, teams, companies, institutions – organisations – here at Guide and Lead, we notice this time and again. The teams only grow together in challenging situations in a way that enables them to continue the journey together. Here, under the pressure of the challenge, you experience the lived authenticity of others, often revealing a new side of the individual.
It is often the individual’s barriers that challenge the organisation and then act as a symptom of its structure and internal conflicts.
Do we want to prevent this? No, certainly not. In fact, as a guide on this transformation journey, it is often a task to lead people into these challenges if it becomes apparent that an organisation is avoiding them and coming to a standstill. Are these challenges pleasant? No, certainly not.
But often enough they are necessary.
As a coach and guide, you will occasionally reach a point where you have to let go. It’s a bit like when a parent has to let go of the little hands of a child who is learning to walk so that they can learn their stability, sense of balance and orientation. Every parent knows that the child will fall at some point, but also that they will get up again and experience tiny but powerful steps in their own development.
So the theme of my week is the journey shared, the conscious acceptance of challenges and also the letting go.
May it be a good week for you,
Ulrike