Many leaders view change as something that\u00a0they do to others<\/i>, but an important leadership moment occurs when a leader must acknowledge that he or she is part of the problem. And being part of the problem can be as subtle as a sly wink signaling agreement that a secret ought to be made of a serious issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It is not easy to accept the possibility that some of our most cherished and entrenched beliefs about how the world works, or about our company\u2019s recipe for success, may be wrong. However, genuine transformation and the ability to continually learn and adapt (and deal with a crisis) only comes when people open themselves up to the possibility that they themselves will need to alter their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.<\/p>\n
That kind of learning occurs when we can recognize the mental model we are using and challenge its validity, and when we can see the walls of whatever box we happen to be in at the time for what it is, an artificial boundary to our thinking. \u201dThinking outside the box” is actually not possible for a human being. You can think inside a different box or a bigger box, but there\u2019s always a box, and its walls represent the limits of the mental model \u2013 the \u201cway\u201d \u2013 that you use to make sense of a given situation.<\/p>\n
It has been suggested\u00a0that GM\u2019s predicament offers\u00a0Mary\u00a0Barra\u00a0a unique opportunity to evaluate her management team. It is also a unique opportunity to evaluate herself, and especially to examine how she has been, and maybe continues to be, part of whatever aspect of the GM way that spawned the current crisis. If she cannot or does not do that necessary work, there is little chance of her effecting the kind of change needed at GM in order to manage the current crisis and avoid others in the future.<\/p>\n
As a new CEO with just a few weeks behind her,\u00a0Mary\u00a0Barra\u00a0might offer the fresh leadership needed to solve General Motors’\u00a0recall crisis, but since she began her ascendance to the CEO\u2019s office as a twenty year old intern, her lifer status … Continue reading ![\"Mary](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Mary-Barra-300x209.jpg\")
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