Here is the complete transcript of the podcast
On the podcast today, I’m answering a question that came in a long time ago, not in the context of this podcast. But a listener of my radio show emailed me asking me a question. And this was in my inbox for over a year. And I was scanning my inbox for something else, I came across this question. And I thought it makes sense to talk about this in the podcast because I don’t think I ever did or talked about anything like this before. So the question is, I got a job after a long time. But I got a job that is paying me well but has put me in a situation where I don’t know what to do. uglier in the job roles I used to deliver projects. Now I have to lead multiple managers and their projects. I’m running into multiple different conflicts. And I wanted your advice on what can I do to overcome the conflict and make sure that I can instill some change. And this is a problem when this is the unknown that you deal with? Now, this question is long, because and this individual is asking me the question is describing the backstory also, they have been out of a job for a long time, they got the job. And they are three months into this job. And this job is not a full-time job. It’s a consulting job. So that’s the background. Okay, so let’s get into this. And I’ll explain what’s going on. Now. You see, if you’re new in your career, you want to grow. And sometimes you choose the path of growing in the management line, you want to manage people, you want to manage budgets, you want to manage, you know, different directives from above. And it becomes challenging when you do not have the right skills. And sometimes even though you can acquire those skills, it takes time. But then, if you’re not naturally inclined to manage people, it becomes difficult.
Now, if you’re in a position to influence like influences and natural in you, and you can really get the message very nicely, and can get communicate that in a nice manner in a way that people listen, people act on act upon, then it’s great. So if you’re a natural influencer, then these things are very, it’s easy. But most people struggle with this. So now how can you bring in change? Well, before we talk about change, and I really don’t know what changes this is, this specific gentleman was asking about. But any change, every change, there is an element of resistance. And there is resistance because a change is going to impact a group of people or a subgroup of people in any organization. Mostly it impacts a subgroup of people. And if people from those, that subgroup, spread rumors, they resist change and all that. So there’s a lot of unwanted activity coming from that group. And rightfully so because there is a possibility that they may be losing their job. So naturally, job security plays a role. Maybe they have a certain level of interpersonal dynamic that exists in that group, they don’t want to break that. And any change can break the dynamic. So they want to preserve the dynamic. And sometimes what I’ve seen personally, as I’m consulting with organizations, I’ve seen that people who are put in given the responsibility to make a change or bring a change, that’s the right word bring a change, they are not tactful. Also. And sometimes change is hard because there are personality conflicts happening. And sometimes timing itself is off. So you can’t bring a change no matter how good you are, no matter how much support you have. So there are multiple different things playing out or usually playing out. Every time we talk about change.
So first of all, I want to tell if you are facing something like this at home, let’s talk about that even at home or at work. Even though the question was more about work. Bringing in a change is hard because there are people involved. Now at work, we expect people to be logical, and professional at home. We want people to be emotional, and also logical, which is funny. But you will start to realize that a majority of people are not as logical as they should be regardless of where they are. So every time we talk about an individual we are talking about emotions and emotions play a dominant role. Law CIC does, but very rarely, you see an extremely logical individual making extremely logical decisions difficult. And so let’s talk about these things for a second, why personality conflicts happen because people have different agendas. And you need to spend time to understand each person’s agenda and difficult for managers too, to bring in change, if they themselves do not. They themselves have conflicts with other managers. So, at an organizational level is difficult to bring in general managers who are not cooperating and not in sync, that has to be studied, you need to invest time in that. Now, as far as individual people who are resisting change, then they might be doing that because of job security. Very natural, very natural, we don’t want change, because change inflicts make us insecure, and they don’t, nobody wants to deal with insecurity. And any change may also involve moving people around. And also they do not lie, because there are dynamics that have been established. Now, I’ve also seen something interesting. Sometimes people resist change because even though they are in the job, they are doing something else. And by change, or agreeing to change whatever they are doing somewhere else that may be compromised. So I had one time, somebody told me this, he said, I’m in this job for 14 years. And I said you’re doing this for 14 years, you’re not promoted, you’re not going up the ladder, you know, is it not hurting you? Or is it not of concern to you? And he says, no, no, I have a consulting company on the side. Okay, and I’m like, wow, and do you make money with it? It’s like, No, I don’t, I don’t have four or five people there. But what he was telling me, and by not telling me was, I take all the nonsense here, but I make money here. And I go there and resolve all my nonsense there because I’m the boss there.
So I’m the CEO there. I’m just an entry-level worker here, something like that. It’s mind-boggling to me how we balance our self-esteem and how we balance our ego. But clearly, you see, the different people are having different agendas, and you’ll find them. But the most important part in all this is you as a change maker, you have to be tactful. Now, how do you become tactful? What’s the secret to becoming tactful? The secret is that you become sensitive to people’s concerns. That you spend time with people and learning and exploring them and learning not only what they’re saying, but also what they’re not saying. And once you do that, it does a couple of things. One it gives you an insight into people’s thinking, and what you’re dealing with. But most importantly, it does also create confidence, their confidence in you your confidence in yourself to accomplish this task, this process, whatever you’re trying to bring the change that you’re trying to bring, and you become likable. That’s the most important part and you will be trusted. So you earn the trust, you’re likable, you show concern and all these things in their small little way. They remove resistance from the change, and it flows. And when it flows, you know it’s flowing. So I hope this is helpful to you if you’re not, well, if you’re not in a job, and I am saying this to you. It doesn’t matter. You own a business, you run it, you have a job you’re on you are in a relationship, you have a family, and all that doesn’t matter. Every time you’re dealing with people, you see these patterns play out. Even if you’re on a charity, even if you’re running an organization doesn’t matter. These things play out. You know, people are people with blood everywhere, and for any level of success. But in the level of success, success is always through people for people. So there’s no success without people’s bottom line so the skills have to be mastered.
Hopefully, this is helpful. If it is let me know. And before you know it, I’ll be with you as early as tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a Friday. I’ll keep this small and to the point. Stay tuned.