First, a note: We’re celebrating our third year of the Stomp the Elephant blog! The success and impact of this “one minute wonder” has exceeded our hopes. Thank you for your role in communicating your ideas and successes, and for sharing the blog with others.
We hope you continue to find value in our weekly missive, as we zero in on what a person can do to create greater results.
Do you know some people and teams who can’t discuss their past? While working with a company in the Midwest, someone referred to “those two years we had so-and-so as a CEO.” Another person quickly added, “Yeah, but we don’t talk about that here.”
That’s a big, ugly elephant in the office – one that is severely limiting their success. How crazy is it working in a place where you can’t talk about something? Where you can’t tell the truth?
How productive can one be when they have to censor their words – and thus edit or eliminate their ideas? This sort of behavior has to stop.
Consider what effective leaders know: stomping elephants isn’t painful, it’s how you address them that is key. Teams can talk about the tough issues – the past – without destroying people and relationships. It just takes leadership.
The organization above is throwing away two years of experience (is there a greater resource?), because they lack the leadership to stomp the elephant. Imagine if they asked these and similar questions:
– What are the experiences during that period that need to be discussed?
– What are the lessons we need to retain moving forward?
– How has our past made us better today?
– What can we do so that people are grateful for past experiences?
Not talking about the tough issues has gone on long enough. Let’s stomp some elephants and get some work done.
