Enlightened Leadership Solutions

Leading Change without Authority: How to Optimize the Success of Your Project while Building Your Leadership Strength

You have a few key people in your organization who have major responsibilities for results, but don’t have authority over all the cross-functional and cross-organizational people required to accomplish the mission. They might be called project/program managers, change agents, internal consultants, supply chain managers, or something else. Their initiative is critical to you, yet they have a real challenge.

They cannot manage or control the initiative to success. They must accomplish their critical objectives through influence – through leadership – and they might not be fully prepared to step up to the level of leadership required. You know they are really good at the processes, systems, tools, metrics of the initiative, but how good are they at the people challenges that await them?

The Challenges of Leading Change without Authority

When 121 of these select individuals from dozens of industries responded to our survey asking about their primary challenges, they expressed some things more consistently than others. Here are some of those challenges:

• Misalignment among the stakeholders about the real mission.

• Cross-boundary conflicts.

• Challenges in communicating and influencing upward.

• Hidden agendas sabotaging efforts.

• Mixed messages around requirements and assumptions.

• Frustration with people who don’t do what they say.

• Making the shift from managing to leading.

• Resistance to change from key people.

Our clients have become heroes within their organizations when we have helped the change agents with their complex challenges. We help them see their role from a more empowering perspective and teach them simple, practical leadership tools to optimize their initiative’s success. One example:

Sixteen modules of software had to be developed and integrated into a complete system for a major defense project. The project was 18 months behind schedule with 10 months remaining on the contract. Waiting at the deadline was a penalty of $millions for being late. When the key project managers shifted how they looked at the situation and began to lead instead of manage - using the simple tools of Enlightened Leadership Solutions, an amazing turnaround occurred, and the project was completed on time, on budget, on quality. No penalty! Heroes emerged from that project.

You’ve got a problem though. These key people cannot afford the time to go off to another training class!

They are far too busy and valuable to take time off from work to learn something new. You need them on the project full time plus!

Well, we could play the “you can’t afford not to” card, but we won’t do that. Instead, we have created a special program that honors their special time needs and is dedicated to their success and that of their initiative. I’m not aware of anything else like it.

Yes, that key manager does have to come to a three-day Quick-Start session to give him or her 80% of all the tools they’ll need to assure their success. That is necessary. Here is what one client said about just that part of the new program:

“I will some day look back on the last few days as a turning point for greater success in my personal and professional life because this was, by far, the most useful course I have ever attended.”

-Director, major pharmaceutical company

Here is the Unique Part!

The second part of the program is where it really pays for itself many times over and will quickly make up for those three days.

This new program, called Leading Change without Authority, is designed to provide just-in-time learning and coaching opportunities to optimize the success of the participants’ initiatives while enhancing their leadership abilities. The participants, from a number of different organizations, will actually experience most of the learning while being effective on the job through our proven action learning process.

What distinguishes this program is the ongoing support provided after the initial event. When they need help, we’ll be there with short bursts of teleconferences, group and solo coaching sessions, a continuous online support forum, email access – all designed to provide what they need when they need it to assure their success. The ongoing sessions take less than an hour per week, yet that time might be the most valuable, inspiring and effective time of their week – second only to the big successes they will be consistently having on their project. The support and short learning sessions will help them refocus, get back on track, solve a problem, clarify their strategy and action plans, etc.

The intent of Leading Change without Authority is found in the subtitle: Optimizing Success of Your High-Visibility Project while Building Your Leadership Strength.

Download the brochure now to learn more details about “Leading Change without Authority.”

Here’s to the success of your important initiative!

The Enlightened Leadership Team

ps: Leading Change without Authority is NOT for everyone. We will review applications and interview candidates to select those who are ready for the personal breakthroughs needed to take their leadership strengths to significant new levels. This will likely be the greatest enhancement of their leadership effectiveness they will ever experience.

pps: The brochure will explain our thorough guarantee. Be sure to look for that.

Do you have key managers responsible for major initiatives - without the authority to do it?

The Challenges of Leading Change without Authority