CHAPTER 11

Marketplace Change: Centralizing Services

If you have been a leader in the middle at the same company or part of a team for a growing company, you have most likely experienced the transition from localized services to centralized services. In spite of the familiarity, for most leaders and organizations, this becomes a huge struggle that leaders in the middle and their leaders spend months or even years convincing everyone from the lowest-level employees to the customers and clients that this is a good thing. They conduct hundreds of meetings listening to issues and explaining themselves.

It's hard enough adapting to the marketplace, technology, and the changing needs of customers and leading through uncertain times without spending so much time getting others to let go of the past and believe in the future. I'm not saying there aren't times that bad decisions are made when it comes to services (or products for that matter) or that direction is so poor (as Yogi Berra said, “If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else”). I am saying:

The Biggest Hurdles Are Perspective and Ego

Whether leaders in the middle on down understand the “why,” the “why” behind the “why,” and the “what” is irrelevant. In most situations, the leaders at the top have insights that others don't have. Those leaders must be transparent about what is happening, but they don't need to share everything. Despite what servant leadership says, there are just some things people do not need to know, would not understand, or would get distracted by. Your people must have direction:

• They must be given the tools and resources necessary to collaborate, implement the changes, and grow.
• They must be allowed to ask questions so the change ends up going where the organization wants it to go, and the answers they get must be honest and complete.
• There should be room for feedback from the people who are in the field so leadership at the top stays in touch with what is going on in the market as the changes are implemented.

Leaders should be prepared for extra coaching time through the changes.

But your people do not need deeper explanations and meetings upon meetings that sound like a corporate version of Seinfeld's Festivus “Airing of the Grievances.” Yet this is what happens when leaders in the middle, and thus the organization, have failed to serve up and coach down—and get stuck on the “what” and “why” instead of the “how.”

In the end, most of these meetings are really about the people feeling like they are being listened to and valued, and that the organization cares about their team, customers, and peers. But when you serve up and coach down, that is already in place, and the certainty in the workplace mitigates the uncertainty in the marketplace. The mindset is: The leaders in the middle have compassion and care just as much as we do, only they have more knowledge than us about what is going on. They are willing to listen, follow, and understand. They don't need convincing and trust what we don't see from the top down. This is not because they have been bullied into submission but because the leaders in the middle had fewer egos and more humility to earn that trust and buy in!

Will the centralization (or really any marketplace) change what an organization needs to make work? Who knows and who cares! Staying the course isn't an option. It never is. If it isn't centralization, there will be something tomorrow that will need to change. The great thing about serving up and coaching down is that the change and uncertainty is welcomed because focus stays on moving forward and achieving the “how.” If things fail, it won't be because those leaders didn't coach the team to succeed and serve up to make the bosses' decisions look good.

Be Certain with Uncertainty

Let's get back to the situation of centralization of services as an example of what I mean. It's not that the issues specific to centralization—the issue of local knowledge being necessary and lost (“it's different here” and “consistent connection in the community is our service difference”)—aren't real and important issues. But leaders in the middle must focus on changing these issues to a positive rather than complaining about the changes. To be certain with uncertainty and certain in our belief in those we follow and serve means we move quicker to resolution without having to debate or be sold on why. The sooner everyone starts heading to the finish line together, the sooner everyone can win.

When it comes to centralization or any changes in the marketplace that are service or product based, remember the serve up/coach down mindset and that there are two perspectives: leaders and followers. The leader in the middle is both.

The Followers—Serving Up

The wrong mindset fueled by poor coaching and an inability to serve up: I don't see the point. I don't know why the leader of the company is doing this, and I don't see it, get it, and/or believe it. So I'm right and they're wrong. If not, prove it to me. Prove to me why we should do it because, like I said, I just don't see it. What's the justification? I used to believe in the people and this organization. But now? Now I need to know more, so I'm digging in my heels and questioning everything.

I've said something like this before. We all have. Someone who “doesn't see the point” is not a bad person, rather they have the wrong mindset. Our gut reaction is to question, but we need to move past that feeling and trust that the people we have trusted in the past know where we are going and will lead us there.

The correct mindset fueled by good coaching and an ability to serve up: Assume the best. What did Michael Jordan as Coca-Cola's spokesperson say when asked if he liked New Coke (one of the greatest brand failures in beverage history) more than the old recipe? “Coke is Coke. They both taste great.” I need to be like that. I must assume if I see the change as a bad decision or even if it is having negative short-term impacts that the benefit is for the long term or for the greater good, not because the past was bad. I owe it to my peers, my bosses, my organization, and the customers that pay us to move forward. I owe it to them to serve them with my belief and all of my effort! I'll suspend my judgment and just make sure I understand the direction to get where we need to go.

What Will You Do?

I witnessed the power of the willingness to suspend judgment firsthand when I took over as the director of a sales team that was struggling in a difficult market. We faced some tough decisions about everything from pay to staffing. I had been there for a couple of months and was well into my reorganization when one of the managers came back from maternity leave. She had been promoted in the weeks before she left, and now she returned to a new job only to face a new boss—me. And the rumors about me were terrible. “This guy is going to fire everybody.” “He is increasing all our hours.” “He has ridiculous expectations and is going to hold everyone accountable to them.”

The manager and I had a meeting scheduled for the day after she returned, and we started out with the usual introductions. I asked some questions about her and how the baby was. After the niceties, we got down to business. I let her know the new team of eight full-time employees and 100 temporary salespeople she was taking over was one of the most unprofitable in the market as well as the most expensive. Changes needed to be made immediately, as in the first hours after she left my office. These changes included sending her eight full-time people into the field to train the sales reps, getting rid of those reps below a minimum standard, and cutting their hourly wage basically in half to focus on commission. That way, those who sold the most would make the most money.

All of this was a lot for anyone to process and deal with, but this leader in the middle looked me in the eye, smiled, and said only three words before she left: “Consider it done.” Within forty-eight hours, she had met with everyone on the team and rolled out the new organizational structure, overall strategy, and sales plan. Within three months, her department, which had lost tens of thousands of dollars a month, turned profitable as the worst reps left and the strongest ones thrived. Within twelve months, her team was one of the top in the country.

It was all because this leader in the middle owned her responsibility and served up to me and coached down to her team. She did not let the changes or the fear of the unknown startle her or get in her way. Instead, she used it as power to challenge herself and drive her forward. She turned that power in to belief—belief in the company and the leaders who hired me. She did not focus on why my decisions were being made; she focused on getting it done and making her team better to achieve our goals.

In other words, this leader in the middle let go of the past and faced an uncertain future with a certainty in what she was doing, knowing the organization had her back. She didn't romanticize the past. She looked to the future. Ask yourself: Who never gets driven crazy by changes like centralization or a new marketplace direction? A new manager or team member, because they don't know how “good” it used to be. Maybe its because they don't know any better, or maybe they are able to see the big picture and see the new change as an opportunity and have the right mindset. That's how my manager acted after she met me.

So ask yourself:

• How do I feel about the organization I work for?
• Has it been good to me, fair, and for the most part made all good decisions?
• How do I feel about the boss I am supposed to serve?
• Has he or she always done the right thing, even when I did not see it that way?
• Do I trust him or her?
• Do I believe in him or her?

If you answered no to these questions, then you have bigger issues than dealing with change or leading through uncertainty; you have a job or career issue, and you need to find a new place to work.

If you answered yes, then you must believe that the biggest changes are like the smaller ones we face every day—that these decisions your organization and leaders are making is in the best interest for everyone. Your job is to focus on how you serve and lead through the change. Be the teacher of the future, not the student left behind in the class of the past.

The Leaders — Coaching Down

Own the change. As followers leading in the middle, your job during uncertain times is to be the one person your boss and organization can count on to secure success no matter what uncertainty or obstacles you face. You will identify how to move forward!

In business, much like in life, we have marching orders, and sometimes we get to give input and sometimes we just have to say, “Yes ma'am.” The key is to know the difference and respond accordingly.

The Power Is in Owning the Decision, Not Empathy

The greatest mistake leaders in the middle make when leading through change is to soften the blow of the change using sympathy. Followers don't need empathy or sympathy. They need confident, strong direction. As a leader, I would rather go the wrong direction confidently than go the right direction with doubt and hesitation. U-turns don't scare me. In fact, I expect them. Only doubt and fear to act guarantee bad decisions or make the movement forward too slow—or fail.

As a leader in the middle, you must coach your teams to be the best version of themselves they can be. Not asking for their input does not mean you do not care or do not value their opinions or expertise. It means their expertise will be needed and appreciated further along in the process. Again, the key is to move forward in delivering on the “how.” If you have coached your people well, they will trust you, follow you, and achieve any task you ask them to do (within legal bounds). If not, maybe you don't want those people on your team.