Organizational Growth: The new beginning.

In the last two articles we discussed the first 2 phases of a transition. In this last article in this series, our focus is on the new beginning.

New beginnings are exciting, whether it is moving to a new town, starting a new job or entering a new phase of life. When the first two phases of a transition is dealt with effectively, the new beginning will bring healthy growth and new found habits.

Organizational Growth: The neutral zone

As mentioned in the previous article, organizational health and resilience depends on the effectiveness of transition management. In this article we will focus our attention on the neutral zone in the transition management process.

During the Ironman race, the neutral zone was a place of freedom for me. Why? Because I had time to change shoes and rest. I was not out cycling or running yet. It was a time where I could create the way I wanted to tackle the cycling and running stages.

Organizational Growth: The importance of transition management

The reason why organizations are able to grow healthy is their ability to go through transitions and not just manage change but see beyond change into transitions. Many executives in businesses and Not-For-Profit organizations wonder why employees, and sometimes themselves, still talk about the “good old days” when the organization has just gone through a major transition. Have you heard them say “I like the way we used to have meetings”, “I wish we could go back to the old way of reporting”, “Why did we need to relocate, the old offices were better”. I could go on and on and on with such examples, and you could probably add many more as well. Well the short answer is, they manage the change, but definitely not the transition.

Millennials in South Africa have itchy feet

In a 2016 worldwide study among millennials Deloitte found that many millennials have one foot out of the door. Millenials, also called the Millennial Generation or Gen Y, are those who were born roughly between the year 1980 and 2000. Their current age ranges from 16-36 years old.

Awkward about your underlings?

Ever felt that horrible awkwardness when you were first put in a position of leadership? You might have felt like you were too small to fill the expectations that the job came with. Or the awkwardness stemmed from feeling you had to be different than the normal you. Or maybe you felt awkward because you now had to ‘perform’ amongst people who used to be your colleagues. Now all of a sudden they are your underlings, but you feel bad even thinking that word.

A team without any conflicts!

Wouldn’t that be nice! Just having fun working together with people that never nag, always look for constructive solutions and really enjoy getting to work. Well, unfortunately that is not how it usually, or at least not always goes. When people are working together there are multiple perspectives, various ways of working, different wishes and needs and irritations.

The universities of Utrecht and Heidelberg published (all the way back, in 2000) results on a joint study about working in teams. This was one of their key findings:

Mohlomi: the inspirer of the next generation leaders

Mohlomi, as he was an older man, met the future king Moshoshoe as he was still young. Mohlomi saw the future in the young man, and gave him an earring. Moshoshoe then asked Mohlomi: 'what is the medicine for building a great empire?' Mohlomi answered him and said 'there is no such medicine! The only true medicine is the heart! Let me give you 3 wisdoms to become a truly great leader: 

1. Love your people 

2. Know your people 

3. Honor your people.'