change management - Patti Cotton

Does Your Leadership Suffer from the Bandwagon Effect? — Image Credit: Shutterstock

Are you following the crowd when it comes to the way you lead? You may not think so.

However, if you are like most leaders, you may unwittingly suffer from “the Bandwagon Effect” without knowing it.

The Bandwagon Effect is a cognitive bias that can cause us to think and act in certain ways if we believe others are doing the same.

My father had a different way of describing it.

“Monkey see, monkey do, Patti,” he would quip.

Does any of this sound familiar?

1. Do you react to the current conditions that affect your business, rather than anticipate and plan for change? Or do you hesitate to adopt new practices or approaches until you see others doing this with success?

Learning to read the business landscape and anticipate with confidence and action enables you to lead out in front. Otherwise, you will be left behind.

2. Are you shortchanging the development of your own leadership?

It’s necessary to stay relevant and sharp. Reading the latest books everyone else recommends, as well as attending recommended conferences and industry meetings is important. But do you take a systematic approach to developing your personal leadership? Intentionally targeting and working on your personal blind spots and growth opportunities is key to operating at your best.

3. Are you missing an accountability mechanism for your leadership development?

The Bandwagon Effect would reflect that you rely on your board or your colleagues, holding you accountable for business outcomes. But who supports you rising to your potential in the way you lead? Be sure you have a confidential “internal board of directors” for this, comprised of leaders who have your back, understand you and your business, and invite you to take responsibility for your growth.

Where does the Bandwagon Effect show up in the way that you lead yourself and your business? I challenge you over the coming week to carefully examine the way you make decisions and take action to see where you can break away and get out in front.

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.

Leading to Recovery While Managing Response — Image Credit: Shutterstock

Your full attention and energy have been called to manage the current crisis. By now, part or all of your workforce is working remotely. Your executive team is alternating “home days” with “office days” to meet social distancing edicts.

Your entire management team is working on ironing out the systems and protocols that need to help you deliver service to your customers during this critical time.

But are you leading to recovery while managing response? If you aren’t already examining how to reinvent yourself and your business to meet the “next normal,” you need to shift gears now.

This begins with vision.

If you can envision the new normal, you can already lay the groundwork to meet it. You certainly know who your customers are and what they need from you at present. But can you anticipate what will they need, once this crisis has passed? The ability to look ahead and project what is likely to happen with customer behaviors and desires will help you define the future of your business. Make sure you are careful to access resources to help you project this. Pool your energy and brain trust with a few other forward-thinking leaders on a regular basis to stay current and sharpen your abilities to anticipate.

Plotting a course for the future, now, is paramount.

This may seem challenging when you are dealing with a crisis, but it’s actually the only smart thing to do. Most organizations are drafting plans that allow them to return to “business as usual.” They are doomed to fail. There will be no returning to ways of operating that we have known in the past. Those who recover and thrive understand this and are seeking to reinvent. This means that if you can respond to current demands in a way that also lays the groundwork for the envisioned future “normal,” you will have moved your organization ahead. Think about how regulatory and competitive environments in your industry may shift. Does this change your thinking around an action you might take so that you not only survive in the immediate, but you also pave the way to thrive?

You are positioned well right now to make change.

The fact is that managing change is never easy. But current conditions have placed the business world in a situation where all must take bold action and take it now. People are looking to make sense of today. They are seeking leaders who embody confidence and character, even if they don’t have all the answers yet. Employees are rallying to the cause as they work together in new ways to deliver service. Your customers are looking for the human part of your business presence and your support.

If you will look to the horizon toward anticipated and yet unseen vistas, while leading the organizational charge to move forward, your business will be primed to succeed.

The Clockwork of Excellent Leadership: 3 Essential Gears

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Patti Cotton

Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.