THE TRANSFORMATIVE LEADER - Squarespace · PDF fileExcerpt from The Transformative Leader by...

Excerpt from The Transformative Leader by Amir Ghannad Available at www.amirghannad.com

Copyright © 2016 by The Ghannad Group, LLC

THE

TRANSFORMATIVE

LEADER Boldly Declare,

Courageously Pursue, and Abundantly Achieve

the Extraordinary

AMIR GHANNAD



Transformation Blueprint I have found the following questions and thought processes helpful in planning transformation.

Keep in mind that if your idea is truly transformative, you will not be clear on the exact answers to these questions, and your responses may change as you progress through your journey and you gain more clarity. But the most important step is to get started and this process gives you a place to start. Some comments have been provided in italics to guide you through the process.

1. In what area are you committed to creating a transformation? (Pick one; be specific)

This could be a specific result that you are responsible for, or a certain aspect of the culture.

2. What bold future are you declaring? What will it look like when you are there? A. Quantitative Results: There needs to be a tangible way to measure these and know whether the result was achieved or not.

B. Qualitative Results: These are sometimes more subject to interpretation, like certain aspects of the culture. But, the contrast between the before and after state should be observable.



3. What key milestones must you reach along the way to achieve this transformation? (Put a target date next to each). If you are truly working on a transformation (vs. change), you will not know all the milestones and you will need to be flexible in adjusting these as you go, in order to stay true to your commitment. At this stage, use your best judgment based on what you know, capture the key milestones that you must work toward, and put dates next to them so that you can check your progress

along the way and make adjustments.

4. Who are the key people you are committed to energizing and involving in making your vision a reality? Although your transformation may ultimately involve a large number of people, it is important that you identify a few people whom you will be intentional about energizing. I would put 2 to 5 people on the initial list. You can always expand the list later.

5. What is the greatest barrier to progress? By now, you know that you are the greatest barrier to progress because you have either created, contributed to, or have tolerated

the existing barriers in place, but this question is geared toward the external barriers that must be addressed.



6. What persistent complaint have you had about this barrier? Are you willing to give it up and get in action? You need to be straight with yourself about this. It is always helpful to just sit and write down all the complaints you have about the situation on a piece of paper. Your persistent complaint will jump out at you. The key is to assess whether your attitude and behavior toward that problem are helping or hurting your ability to solve the problem. If it is the latter, then all there is to do is to

give up the complaint.

7. What step(s) are you committed to taking immediately in the direction of removing/neutralizing this barrier? By when will you complete these? Specific and immediate actions and dates are necessary for any of the above to do any good. Without this, the rest of the work you have done so far won’t matter. You can start small if you want, to get some wins under your belt. You don’t have to have a great start, you just need to have a start!

8. What language or behaviors need to be altered in your organization to shift the culture to being “on the court” versus being “in the stands?” You can start with your wish-list, but narrow it down to 1 to 2 critical aspects of the culture, such as language or behaviors.



9. Are you committed to role-modeling this shift? How? Culture transformation must start with you. Make a commitment to model specific behavior and language, and go to work on yourself. I would strongly urge you to declare your commitments to others around you and ask them to help you stay on track. This helps you remain in action and it also sends a strong signal to others that you are serious about leading a culture transformation.

10. What are key opportunities for you to increase your competence? What steps will you take to accomplish this and by when?



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amir Ghannad is a leadership coach, a sought after keynote speaker in the US and abroad, and the founder of The Ghannad Group LLC, which offers coaching and consulting services in the area of leadership effectiveness and culture transformation. For the past 30 years, Amir has held leadership positions in the US, Southeast Asia, and Europe at Procter and Gamble, Sunny Delight Beverages, and Campbell Soup Company. Amir has effectively led multi-national and multi-functional teams in delivering superior results through his ability to rally teams around a common vision. A registered corporate coach and an accomplished trainer of courses such as Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The Speed of Trust, The Mind Gym, and many others, Amir has designed and delivered numerous customized learning events that have helped organizations successfully achieve results in a variety of business situations. Amir is proficient in using an array of tools and methodologies to facilitate teams through the process of strategy development and deployment, organizational assessment and design, high performance organization development, transition management, and leadership development. Amir holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a MBA from Wilmington University. Amir and his wife, Connie, live in Atlanta, Georgia, have been married for 33 years, and have a son (27) and a daughter (26).

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