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FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT

STEPPING OUT OF THE SAFE ZONE:

Any thing, idea or issue could be interpreted in many different ways depending on how we define the situation. Creative ideas can evolve in the seemingly unconnected. Why do more Management Teams not approach effective leadership with this attitude? The most common reason is, we allow ourselves to be enslaved by familiarity.

We play by the safe rules and dare not step out of the 'safe zone' for fear of losing control. "Let sleeping dogs lie", or the more famous, "Don't rock the boat" best describe this foible. The following vignette exemplifies the dynamic leader: someone who is willing to look beyond traditional problem solving and opens the door to explore different possibilities.

On one occasion during my adventures in Management Consulting, a senior executive requested my assistance in resolving an ongoing problem of team participation at company meetings. They found that more and more staff neglected to attend departmental meetings and the ones who did attend, seemed disenchanted by the prospect of yet another meaningless meeting.

CLOSED DOOR, CLOSED MIND
UNPRODUCTIVE MEETING SYNDROME:

It was this company's policy to have departmental meetings once a week followed by management meetings later that week. Departmental meetings were chaired by the department head who reported on the weeks progress in the customary defined process of relating the week's departmental sales results, overall company statistics for the week and the projected goals for the following week. Added to that, of course, were the usual comments by Management of their perceived departmental problems, which needed to be addressed and resolved. Following this statement was the Manager's interpretation of what must be done to eradicate the perceived problem. The meeting then evolved around this Manager's ideas for 'fixing' the problem

At this point, I glanced around the room to see if there was any interest whatsoever at challenging this Manager's self-directed theories. What I saw instead were a group of bored disinterested personnel who were either doodling or staring blankly around the room waiting for this meeting to end. "Just put me out of my misery", I could almost hear them say. Their wish was granted quickly enough with a brief "thank you for coming" from their fearless leader who then concluded with 'see you next week'. End of Meeting!

Believe it or not, this same process was exercised by other Managers at several

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